Future shock
by MrQuinn
Summary: (*) Conclusion (*) Tommy awakens, but isn't sure where or when he is.........
1. Chapter One

The sound of his own heartbeat was all he heard as he opened his eyes slowly, only to find herself in a long, glass tube of some sort. He couldn't see beyond the tube, which was filled with a thick, clear fluid. Oddly enough, there were no tubes to supply him with oxygen, but even in the fluid, he was able to breath normally. From what he could tell, she was floating; unable to determine the top of bottom of the tube he was trapped in. There were other wires connected to his arms, chest, back & head, each of them throbbing with pain.

Despite his efforts, he couldn't recall the events leading up to him being locked away in a tube filled with what, to him, felt like watery Jello. For that moment, he couldn't remember much of anything.

_'I've got to get out of here,' _he thought to himself as he swung a right hand at the tube, hoping it would shatter.

Nothing

He tried again, this time with a left hand, but with the same results. Realizing that breaking the tube wasn't an option, he began to formulate another means of escape. He attempted to float to the top, hoping there was an exit of some sort, but with without success. Next, he tried to find the bottom of the tube, but no luck there either.

Just then, the sound muffled voices in the background overshadowed the sound of his heart beating, and the fluid began to drain from the tube. Soon it was empty, and he was able to see through the tube. There was a group of men wearing white lab coats surrounding the tube, talking amongst themselves as they watched him. One of them walked over to what appeared to be a control panel, and seconds later, the tube began to rise. He collapsed to the floor, and one of the men wrapped a towel around him, helping him over to a nearby bed.

It appeared to be an operating table of some sort, with a huge, bright light that shined down on him. He closed his eyes to shield them, but after a few seconds, the light began to dim.

"Where….." he said, but was quickly cut short.

"You need to conserve your strength. There will be plenty of time to answer all your questions," a voice said.

He managed to open his eyes, glancing around the room in an attempt to figure out exactly where he was. From the looks of it, it was a lab, but it was unlike anything he'd ever seen before. There were four men standing over him, three of which were dressed in lab coats, but the fourth man wore what appeared to be a uniform of some sort. The thought crossed his mind that it was a military uniform, but it didn't seem familiar to him. Whoever it was, they wore a pair of deep tinted sunglasses and had a cold, distained look on their face.

There was something about the man, something he recognized, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. "Let me go," he managed to mumble, trying to sit up on the bed, but found that he was unable.

"Relax Tommy, everything he going to be all right," the man said, taking off his glasses. One of the others injected a needle in his arm, sending a shooting pain through his entire body.

Tommy got a good look at him, and quickly realized who it was. "Wes?" he sighed.


	2. Chapter Two

Tommy sat up slowly, only to discover that the wires that were once attached to various parts of his body were gone. He was still a bit groggy, and he was weak, but for the most part, he was aware of what was happening.

He managed to slide off the examining table he was on, but it took him a second to get his balance. There were a moment of disorientation, a little dizziness, but it passed, and he was able to walk around the room. It was a medical bay of some kind, full of equipment and machinery. Finally, he was able to determine where he was.

_'This has got to be Bio-Lab in Silver Hills,'_ he thought to himself. It was only thing that made sense.

He recognized Wes as soon as he saw him. Granted they'd only had the chance to work together very briefly, but after the incident with the Machine Empire, he did his best to keep in touch him Wes. Wes always spoke of Bio-Lab, so it seemed logical to assume that's where he was. _'But why am I here?' _ He wondered. He couldn't recall being sick, or injured, but obviously he was in a medical bay being treated for something.

Tommy wandered over to what looked like an exit, but couldn't find a doorknob or a panel of any sort. Before he had a chance to react, the doors slid open, and a woman wearing a uniform walked in. She had long, curly black hair, and he quickly recognized the uniform as the same one Wes wore earlier.

"Oh my God, it's really you," the woman said cheerfully.

Tommy shrugged his shoulder slightly. "Yeah, it's me," he sighed.

"I've read the history logs a thousand times, reading over the missions you were involved in and the lives you saved. You're what inspired me to join Time Force in the first place," she told him.

"History logs?" he inquired.

"Yeah, your missions with the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, the Zeo Quest, all of it is required reading at the academy," she mentioned.

Still, Tommy seemed lost. "Academy?"

"That's enough Katie," they both heard a voice say.

Tommy glanced over her shoulder only to see Wes walk in the room still wearing his sunglasses. There was something different about Wes, something he couldn't quite put his finger on. It seemed a little more, serious, not the same free spirited Wes he'd known before.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help it. It's just that he's….." she was cut short.

"That will be all Katie," he repeated.

With a nod, Katie politely excused herself from the room.

"How are you feeling?" he asked him.

"I still have a headache, but I'll be okay," he sat down on the examining table. "What's going on Wes? Why am I in Bio-Lab?" Tommy inquired.

He took off his glasses. "I'm not Wes, and this isn't Bio-Lab," he told him.

"What?"

He took off his sunglasses, pulling up a chair next to the examining table. "This may be a little difficult for you to accept, but this is the 31st century. By your calendar, it's July of the year 3000. My name is Commander Alex Collins," he introduced.

"Whats going on?" he asked, trying to make sense of the situation.

"In the year 2003, you became ill, and you were taken to Bio-Lab to be treated. Unfortunately, there was no cure for your illness at the time, but the lab had been working on Cryogenic suspension technology, and it was decided that you be put in Cryogenic status until a cure could be found," he explained.

"Illness? What kind of illness?"

"Your exposure to the radiation of the Zeo crystal had begun to break down your molecular structure on a cellular level," he said.

"But how?"

"When you were originally given your green ranger powers in the early 21st century, the green candle that contained your power was linked directly to your life force. When that candle was extinguished, you were unable to maintain your green ranger powers. The history logs indicate that Zordon tried on many occasions to restore your power, but with no luck. It wasn't until you were given the white ranger powers that your life force was restored with a new source of energy, completely cutting you off from the green candle. The problem was, your body had grown accustomed to the green energy it was receiving from the candle. It wasn't a problem until you gave up the white ranger powers in favor of the Zeo crystal, which was known to give off high levels of radiation. In moderate amounts, the radiation was harmless, but your body had already been damaged on the cellular level, and when the Command Center exploded in combination with the Zeo radiation, it because an irreversible effect on your body," he explained.

"I don't understand. If the Zeo crystal made me sick, why didn't I ever feel anything? I as never in any pain," he brought up.

"Because of the explosion, your body was forced to absorb the radiation all at once, linking you to the red Zeo crystal permanently. Eventually, you were able to adapt to your new power source, but it wasn't until you attempted to accept the Turbo powers that your body began to reject the new source of energy. You see, the human body isn't meant to withstand so many different types of energy, which is another reason a new group of rangers were selected every generation," he told him.

"But if that was the case, Rocky, Adam and the others would have been effected as well," he said.

Alex shook his head. "Not necessarily. Your situation was different because of your past with both the green and white ranger powers. It was one of the reasons you were asked to step down as the red Turbo ranger; your body was beginning to reject the energy. It was believed that if you weren't in contact with any external energy source, your body would eventually heal itself and you would be able to live a normal life," Alex explained.

"So what went wrong?" Tommy asked him.

"Everything was okay until you and the other red rangers joined together to stop the Generals of the Machine Empire. You exposed yourself to the Zeo crystal again for the first time in years, and your nervous system couldn't deal with it. Shortly after the battle on the moon, you became ill, and TJ and the others took you to Bio-Lab to be treated. Again, there was no cure, so you were put into status until something could be done for you," he said.

"And no one was able to find a cure until now?" he replied.

"There are reasons that you were left in status for all this time, one of them being that there was a debate on whether or not you should be allowed to have knowledge of the past," he said.

"What do you mean?"

"In instances like this, Time Force implements the memory adaptation procedure. It erases any previous memories, allowing you to re-adjust to life in the 31st century. My superiors felt as though you would a high risk jumper and wanted to give you the procedure," he told him.

"Jumper?" he inquired, hoping Alex would elaborate.

"Jumper is a term we use to describe someone who we consider to be a risk of attempting to go back to their own time. You see, sending you back to your own time with knowledge of the future would disrupt the time line and alter the future," he pointed out.

"I see your superiors didn't get their way," he brought up.

"I told them it would be a waste to give the procedure to someone who is so highly respected in the history logs. In a sense, you paved the way for the Time Force rangers and have a heavy influence on everyone who hopes to join the academy. You're a legend, and I felt you deserved more than to just have your memories and experiences wiped away in the name of protocol," he said.

"Won't that alter destiny?"

"Someone once told me that we make our own destiny," he said as he stood up, extending his hand to Tommy.

With a nod and a slight smile, Tommy obliged him, shaking his hand firmly.


	3. Chapter Three

Alex simply stood in the doorway with his arms folded, watching Tommy as he stared endlessly at the screen. It had been hours, and not once had Tommy moved from that spot. _'All things considered, I think he took it pretty well,'_ he thought to himself.

On most occasions, when someone from the past, or another time line for that matter, are confronted with the idea of being 100s or 1000s of years away from their friends and family, the strain is too much for them to bare. In those cases, memory adaptation is the best course of action. Alex recalled occasions when jumpers did everything in their power to return to their own time, even if it cost them their lives. Not Tommy though, it seemed to be handling things much differently. Granted, there was the initial thought of being in the 31st century, and although hearing about your life events being history, there was a certain amount of ego in it. There had to be. Tommy had been responsible for saving the lives of countless billions during his run as a ranger, but because of the oath to keep his identity a secret, it prevented him and all other rangers the chance to be recognized for the things they'd done. Now, it was no longer a secret. In the future, not only was that type of information made available to the public, Tommy's name was legendary, the events of life, once kept hidden, was public knowledge. Although a bit concerting, it had to be nice to finally be appreciated for everything he'd done.

"He's been at it for almost three hours now," Alex glanced over his shoulder, only to see Jennifer standing next to him with her hands on her hips. "He's like a machine, going over the history logs like that. He's gone through almost four generations in the last few hours, trying to figure out what happened in his own time," she said.

"I seem to recall a certain cadet doing the same thing when she returned home from her mission to the 21st century," Alex brought up.

Jen silently blushed. "It isn't the same. Tommy is missing a 1000 years worth of memories. All his friends, his family, his wife, his son, are all gone. It's only fair that he be giving the chance to see what happened to them," she told him.

Alex nodded. "Did you make the arrangements?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Yes, it's ready whenever you are," she said.

"I won't be able to take him. I have a meeting with Captain Logan at 1500 hours, do you mind taking him when he's finished here?" he inquired.

"It would be an honor."

"Contact me when he's settled in," Alex said, unfolding his arms and walking away, leaving Jen alone.

She couldn't help but admire Tommy. She'd read the history logs as well, but there were things that the logs couldn't have known. There was no mention of how kind and generous he was, how selfless he was not only to his fellow rangers, but to everyone he met. The history logs made no mention as to how much to loved his wife and son, and how even after he lost his ranger powers, how he dedicated his life to helping others.

Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime of waiting, Tommy turned around, wiping his eyes as they adjusted to the light again. "You must be Jen," he said as he stood up, walking over to her.

"How'd you know?"

"The way Wes talked about you all the time, I could have picked you out in a crowd. I'm….." she cut him short.

"Tommy Oliver, I know. It's nice to meet you," she said, shaking his hand.

There was something about her, something Tommy couldn't quite put his finger on. Maybe it was the way used her index finger to bush her hair behind her ear, maybe it was the way her lips curled when she gave a half smile, but there was something….. something that reminded him of _her._

"Same here," he maintained his composure, not wanting to mention anything. He quickly changed the subject. "What happened to Alex?"

"He was called away to a meeting, that means that taking you to your new place is up to me," she said cheerfully.

"My place?" he inquired. "I have a place?"

"You certainly don't want to go back in the tube, do you? Time Force has arranged living quarters for you until you decide what you want to do," she said.

"Well what are we waiting for, let's go," Tommy said as he extended his arm to her. She quickly accepted his arm, and the two of them walked away.

(*)

"I can't believe you're trying to give this assignment to someone else, Jennifer worked hard for it," Alex snapped, standing in front of Captain Logan's desk. 

Captain Logan, who had been sitting in his chair the entire time, stood up. "Jennifer has demonstrated that she is unable to take special ops missions. Her assignment with the mutorgs was supposed to be a black bag operation, but instead, she traveled to the 21st century and enlisted the services of rangers from that time period. It was unacceptable," he told him.

"The Wild Force rangers were already involved, and the mutorgs were stopped before they could alter the time line," Alex mentioned.

"Revealing herself to the Wild Force rangers _was_ altering the time line. Time Force was never meant to come in contact with any other ranger team, and as a result, several generations of ranger teams were effected. Jen is a decorated officer, but again, has proven she isn't ready for this type of assignment. She's still labeled as a high-risk jumper, you of all people should know about her attached to that Collins boy in the 21st century. We can't afford to put her in a position where she will be tempted to jump," he explained.

"Even if that were true, it doesn't justify trying to give the assignment to Tommy Oliver. I just finished explaining to him that too many different types of energy does damage to the human body on the cellular level, there is no way he's going to accept a Chrono morpher," he brought up.

"Part of the terms of agreement was that Mr. Oliver wouldn't be given the memory adaptation procedure so that he could complete this mission. You assured the counsel that he would be willing," he said.

"That was before I had a chance to talk with him. The man is a living legend, and right now, he deserves to decide what he wants to do. To throw him into another mission, especially one of this importance, may be too much for him," Alex said.

"So do you suggest we continue to let these incursions take place until finally history itself is unraveled? Is our way of life, our very existence to be exchanged for one man's happiness? Tommy is the most qualified person to lead a mission like this, it has to be him or our world is in serious jeopardy," Captain Logan told him.

Alex paused. "What if I led the mission? Let Tommy go back to his own time and I'll lead the mission. He deserves a life of his own," he said.

"To send Tommy back to his own time would alter the time line, you know that. The alteration of something that historically significant could be even more disastrous than the rogue himself. I can see that you feel passionately about this Alexander, but the answer is no. Either Tommy leads this mission, or he accepts memory adaptation," he said.

Alex sighed.


	4. Chapter Four

**Author's note**: Thank you for the response I've gotten and for all of the feedback, I try to take everything you guys say into consideration. Keep it coming.

(*)

"This is the place," Jen said as she opened the door, then stepped to the side, allowing him to walk in.

Tommy stepped in slowly, but it was dark as far as the eye could see. He instinctively reached for the wall, searching for the light switch, but with no luck. "I can't see to…." She cut him short as she realized what he was doing.

"Sorry," she cleared her throat. "Lights," she called out, and instantly, the entire room as lit up. "The entire house is voice activated, so just ask for what you want and the computer will turn anything in the house on or off," she explained.

"This is too much," he sighed as he walked in, getting a good look at the place.

He remembered as a child growing up in foster homes, having rooms no bigger than closets. Even when he hung up his morpher for the last time, got married and settled down with his family, his house didn't compare to the living arrangements Time Force had given him. The living room itself was huge, bigger than most of the places he'd lived in, with a flat screen television mounted on the wall. There was a couch, but it was unlike any couch he'd seen before. It was almost as if it was levitating in a single spot. To be sure, he walked over to it and peeked underneath. Sure enough, nothing there to hold it up.

"I thought that pictures of your friends and family would make the place seem – you know – more comfortable, so I printed out of the pictures we had in the history logs," she mentioned, but no sooner than she finished her sentence did he notice the pictures on the wall.

He stopped at the picture of he and the other rangers. _'I must have been 16 or 17 years old in this pic,'_ he thought to himself, recalling when he originally moved to Angel Grove. All of the rangers, all the way down to Jason and Zach, looked so different than he remembered. Over the years, all of them changed. Some for the better, others….. not so better.

Next, he came to a picture of he and his wife on their wedding day. The sight of her forced him to crack a smile. "I can't believe you went through so much trouble," he sighed, trying to hold back the tears as they formed in his eyes.

"It was no trouble at all, really," she insisted.

Tommy took the picture off the wall, sitting down on the couch with no legs. Surprisingly, it was more comfortable than it looked. "For a minute I didn't think we were going to make it. Our lives had taken such different directions, I was sure she'd moved on with her life," Jen walked over to him, sitting down next to him on the couch to get a good look at the picture. "When she went to the Pan Globals, I was positive that I wouldn't see her again, but just after me and the others got our Turbo powers, she came home for a visit. After I stepped down as red ranger, we were inseparable. It didn't take us too long to realize that losing my ranger powers were a blessing in disguise, so we took advantage of every moment we had together. We got engaged kinda quick, and married a year later," he explained to her.

"You two made a beautiful couple," she sighed.

It was obvious that he was having a hard time controlling his emotions as tears managed to escape, rolling down his face. "Yeah, but some things just weren't meant to be," he mumbled.

"What's wrong? What is it?"

He paused to collect his thoughts. "Kimberly was killed only a few weeks after we were married. There was an accident at one of her practices for an upcoming competition – one of the bars weren't tight enough – she slipped and….." she cut him short.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't know. I went through the history logs just long enough to find a few pictures, if I had known that……"

"No, don't be sorry. It had been years since I'd seen this picture. This is the way I wanted to remember her," he sighed, wiping the tears away.

"I don't mean to pry," she paused. "The history logs indicted you had a son, what ever happened to him?" Jen inquired.

"Shortly after Jason and Katherine died, I decided to raise their son as my own. I took him in, and we were finally getting over their deaths and moving on with our lives when the Machine Empire returned," he said.

She paused. "Wait a second, Jason and Katherine died? How?" she asked.

"There was a plane crash on their way home one of the Peace Conference summits in the Swiss Elps. They said that one of the engines were…."

She stood up. "I'm not that familiar with the history logs, but I know that Jason and Katherine didn't die in a plane crash," she mentioned.

"What are you talking about? I was there, I went to their funerals," he pointed out.

At that moment, there was a sudden sense of…. Something. Jen glanced around the room and watched in amazement, as something seemed to wash over the room. For a moment, she was a bit dizzy, but it passed rather quickly. She turned her to the picture Tommy left on the wall, rushing over to it.

"What? What is it?" he asked.

She remained silent as she stared at the picture strangely. "Let me see your wedding picture," Tommy walked over to her, handing her the picture. "This isn't right," she said with a note of caution on her face.

"What?"

"A few minutes ago that was Kimberly Hart in the picture," she said.

"That's impossible. Kimberly passed away long before Samantha and I got married," Tommy told her.

Jen snatched the picture off the wall. "This was a picture of you and all the rangers when you first became the green ranger, but now it's different," she mentioned.

Tommy glanced over it. "No, it isn't. Theres me, Kimberly, Zach, Jason, Billy and Samantha," he said, pointing to each one of them.

"Samantha? What happened to Trini?" she asked.

"Are you sure you're feeling okay Jen?"

"Just answer the question."

"Trini died only a few weeks after she got the yellow power coin. Rita used me to set a trap for her when I was under her control, and she was killed. Samantha replaced Trini," he explained.

Jen dropped the picture. "This isn't right, none of it," she snapped.

"Jen, I was there. I remember all of it like it was yesterday, this is how it was," he said.

Jen began to pace the floor. "Someone or something is altering the time line, effecting past events and as a result, changing the present. But who? Who would benefit from the changes?" she asked, pacing across the floor.

"Think about what you're saying: if someone _did_ change the past, you wouldn't be able to remember it. If things had changed, you would have changed along with them, and you would have no knowledge of the past being any different," Tommy pointed out.

"I know how it sounds, but I know I'm not crazy. In the history logs, there was never a Samantha, and Trini wasn't killed for another few years, long after she gave up her ranger powers," she paused. "I need to talk to Alex, he'll know what to do," she said, storming out the house.

Tommy folded up his wedding picture, putting it in his back pocket, then followed out the door.

(*)

"Here it is Jen, it's all here. Rita and the green ranger killed Trini only a few months after she got the yellow power coin. Samantha later received the yellow power coin and held it until she, Zach and Jason went to the Peace Conference two years later. It's all in the logs," Alex pointed out as he sat in front of a computer monitor, going over the history logs.

Jen stood behind him, leaning over the control panel. "This isn't right Alex, something changed. There was – a wave – of something – it passed over me and everything was different. Tommy was just telling me about being married to Kimberly, but after whatever it was happened, he told about someone named Samantha. Something is changing the past," she explained.

"Lets say I believe you: why are you the only one who noticed the changes? Why weren't you affected by the alteration of the time line?" he asked.

"I don't know, all I do know is that……" before she could finish her sentence, it happened again. There was a wave of – something – that washed over her. When the dizziness passed, Alex was gone, and Captain Logan was in his place.

"Here it is Jen, it's all here. Rita and the green ranger killed Trini only a few months after she got the yellow power coin. Aisha later received the yellow power coin and held it until she; Billy and Jason went to the Peace Conference two years later. It's all in the logs," he pointed out.

Without another word, Jen fainted.


	5. Chapter Five

Jen opened her eyes slowly, and as her vision slowly shifted back into focus, she saw Katie, Lucas and Tommy standing over her with concerned looks on their faces.

"It looks like she's coming around," Jen heard a voice say, but she couldn't make out who it was.

Finally, she was able to sit up, trying to get an idea as to where she was. She remembered talking with Alex, then something happened, and Captain Logan was there. Other than that, the events leading up to that exact moment were a blur.

"You had us worried there for a second," another voice said.

She recognized that voice as Lucas. "I'm okay," she sat up slowly. "Something strange is going on," she mentioned.

"We know, it's been happening all day," Katie told her.

"You mean you guys see it too?"

"Yeah, it's sort of like throwing a rock in a river, and it ripples through the water. When it stops, things are different," she said.

"But how is it that you guys aren't effected by these shifts in time, but I am?" Tommy inquired.

"We should talk to Trip, see what he has to say," Jen suggested as she hopped off the medical bed she was on, shaking off the rest of her disorientation.

"We tried, but when he went to his house, someone else was living there. I checked the files, no one from Xybria ever joined Time Force," Lucas told her.

"Trip is gone? Damn it," she said.

"We have to think; what is it that all of us have in common, but we don't have in common with the rest of Time Force?" Katie asked.

They remained silent until Tommy's eyes lit up excitement. "I could be wrong, but aren't you guys the only rangers in Time Force?" he inquired.

"Yes, but I don't see what that…." She paused. "Of course, the Chrono Morphers. Somehow, the energy signature of each morpher shielded us from the shifts in time," Jen realized.

"So now that we know why we aren't effected, we still need to figure out who would want to change past events to alter the future. What's in it for them?" Katie replied.

"We should talk to Alex, see if…." She was cut short.

"I checked the records, there is no mention of Alexander Collins. He's been erased from history," Lucas said, putting his hand on Jen's shoulder for comfort.

She snatched away. "Who the hell would want Trip and Alex out the way? Who would go back in time and eliminate former rangers one by one?" she snapped.

"It stands to reason that morphers of the past emitted a similar radiation to the Chrono morphers. If that were true, it would mean that rangers would be the only people not affected by the shifts in time. Someone or something wants to remove all rangers from the history logs, leaving them the only person with knowledge of the original time line," Tommy brought up.

"For that to be true, it has to be someone from _this_ time," Katie said.

"We have to find out who this person is and the next time they're going to strike. If we can travel back in time at the exact moment they make their move, we can stop them," she said.

"I'm afraid it won't be that easy," they heard a voice say from behind.

They turned around, only to see Captain Logan walk in the room, closing and locking the door behind them.

"Captain?"

"Time Force has been aware of these shifts in time for a few days now, but have been unable to track down the person responsible for the shifts. We were organizing a special task force to put a stop it to, but members of the counsel began to be erased from existence. To go back in time and stop whoever is doing this, it will alert him to the fact that we know what's going on. That could cause a rift in time itself. We have to go back to when all this originally started, allow them to think they succeeded, then fix whatever damage they've done," he explained.

"But there are several incursions, we'd have to stop them all," Jen pointed out.

"The four of you will have to go back and stop each one. Meanwhile, I'll stay here and try to track down who it is and why they're doing this," he turned to Tommy. "I am aware of your situation, and that your body is still adjusting to the treatments we gave you, but if you're going to remain unaffected by the time shifts, you're going to need one of these," he said, handing him a Chrono morpher.

Before Tommy could reach out and grab it, Jen grabbed his wrist. "It could kill him," she said.

"If he doesn't take it, we'll all cease to exist and it won't matter," the Captain reminded her.

"We'll need access to a time ship and detailed logs of where and when the first incursions began," she said.

"From what we can tell, the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers were the first targets. The three rangers who passed down their morphers to attend the peace conference, Jason, Trini and Zach will be killed in a plane on the way to the conference itself. Focus your attention on this one first. You'll have to allow whoever is responsible for this to believe they accomplished their goal, and then correct the incursion. Once they're safe, history will shift and we'll be able to determine what the next target will be," he told them.

"How were they killed?"

"Reports say there was a malfunction in the planes engine, which suggests that there was sabotage involved. Again, let the saboteur _think_ they accomplished their goal, then find a way to either repair the plane or get the three of them off the plane without letting them know who you are or why you're doing it," he said.

"Why can't they know? It would easier for all involved if they knew," Tommy brought up.

"Knowledge of future events will alter the balance of the space/time continuum, forcing them to take different courses of action. Its important that each of them do what they were meant to do, and they won't if they continuous second guess themselves because of their foreknowledge of things to come," he explained.

"Okay guys, lets do it," Jen said, speaking for the group.

(*)

The four of them sat in front of the controls in the time ship. Katie turned her seat around, going over the final launch sequence.

"Prepare for temporal displacement," she warned.

"As soon as you're mission is complete, get back to the time ship. I'll have details of your next assignment once you get back," Captain Logan informed them.

"Understood," Lucas said, switching off the communications systems.

"Lift off in 5…4…3…2…" the entire ship began to shake as it lifted off the ground. On the screen, Tommy could see a temporal vortex of some sort opening in front of them. Thrusters came on line, and ship headed towards the vortex.

"Good luck rangers, and may the power protect you," Captain Logan mumbled under his breath as he watched the ship enter the vortex, then disappear.


	6. Chapter Six

Angel Grove, California        1994 AD

"Zordon, I'm detecting a temporal vortex of some kind just outside the Angel Grove city limits," Alpha V said, going over the readings on the control panel in the Command Center.

"Put it on the viewing globe," Zordon insisted.

The viewing globe blinked on, and they were able to see a vortex of some kind closing over the river just as the sun began to set.

"Try to pinpoint the origin of the vortex. I'll contact the rangers and have them converge on that location," he ordered.

"Right away Zordon," he answered.

(*)

The sun was setting behind the mountains as Jen and the others watched the time ship sink into the river. "Great idea Jen. No one will think to look underwater for the ship. That should give us plenty of time to get to the airport, stop the saboteur and save the rangers," Lucas mentioned.

"Try to avoid coming into contact with the people of this time period. You heard what the captain said; we could end up doing more harm than good," she turned to Tommy. "Are you sure you're up to this?" she inquired.

He nodded slightly. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be," he told her.

"According to the information that the captain gave us, Jason and the others should be on their way to the airport right now. Seems logical that the saboteur is already there, so we should split up to cover more ground. Tommy, you and Lucas try to find out if the plane has been tampered with. Katie, the two of us will try to slow down Jason and the others to buy Tommy and Lucas some extra time," Jen explained.

"Right," Katie said, speaking for the group.

"We'll all meet back here before dawn. Good luck you guys, we'll need it," she said as they went their separate ways.

(*)

The six of them materialized in the Command Center, and then quickly turned to Zordon. "What is it Zordon?" Rocky asked, inquiring for the entire group.

"Alpha and I have detected a temporal vortex just outside Angel Grove near the river. Our readings are unable to determine where it originated or if anything came through or not," he said.

"Probably Lord Zedd up to his tricks again," Aisha commented.

"Tommy, you and the rangers must teleport to the beach at once and determine if this vortex left anything behind, and if it is a threat," he instructed.

"We're on it," Tommy assured him.

"I'll stay here and see if I can find out anything about the vortex that you guys might find useful," Billy suggested.

"Keep us posted Billy," Tommy turned to the others. "It's morphin' time!"

"Pterodactyl,"

"Mastodon,"

"Tyrannosaurus,"

"Saber tooth tiger,"

"White tiger,"

Each of them morphed into their ranger uniforms, then teleported out the Command Center.

(*)

"Well, this is it guys," Zach said, turning to the others while they put their bags on the conveyer belt in the airport.

There seemed to be people for as far as the eye could see, all of them coming or going. It bothered Trini a little that the others didn't come to the airport to send them off, but she understood that they had responsibilities to attend to.

"Seems weird, leaving Angel Grove," Jason brought up.

"I know, but think of the positive influence we'll have at this peace conference. We'll be make a difference not just in Angel Grove, but all over the world," Trini reminded them.

That was originally prompted Trini to apply for the peace conference; she wanted to make a difference. Granted, as a ranger, she was able to protect the city and save lives, but as an Ambassador of Peace, she would be able to help people in different countries. For the first time since she and others had become rangers, they wouldn't have to rely on their powers to save lives, they would be doing it on their own.

"Trini's right, this is the chance of a lifetime. I'm sure Angel Grove will get along just fine….." he was cut short as a woman with curly brown hair bumped into him, forcing her to drop her bag.

"Excuse me, I'm sorry," she said, stumbling over.

"No, I'm sorry. Let me help you," he said, leaning down and picking up her bag for her.

"Thank you," she stood up straight, getting a good look at him. "Zach?" she asked in amazement.

"Do we know each other?" he inquired.

"Of course we do silly, it's me, Katie. You use to date my cousin Angela. Remember, she introduced us a few months back," she reminded him.

Zach tried to remember, but was drawing a complete blank. "I'm sorry, I don't remember," he said.

"That's just like a man; forgetting the women in his life. We were suppose to go on a double date, but when we were in line to buy our tickets for the movie, your pager went off or something and you said you had to go," she mentioned.

Although it didn't remember the incident in question, he recalled skipping out on dates with Angela quite a few times. It was possible that this Katie person was there on one occasion. "Oh yeah, it's good to see you again," Zach said insincerely.

"What are you doing here?"

"My friends and I are waiting for our plane to board. We were selected to go to the peace conference and represent Angel Grove," he told her.

Out the corner of her eye, she saw Jen rush by, sneaking her way passed security and heading for the plane. Once she knew Jen was completely out of sight, she turned her attention back to Zach. "Well, good luck you guys. Send me a postcard or something," she said, putting her bag over her shoulder and walking away.

"Who was that?" Trini asked him.

"I'm not sure," he admitted.

(*)

Tommy and Lucas were on the runway itself, examining the engines of the plane.

"I don't see any tampering on these engines at all, maybe we're in the wrong place," he brought up.

Tommy shook his head. "No, this is the place and the right time. There has to be something we're overlooking," he said.

Just then, the two of them were interrupted when airport security arrived on the scene. "Okay you two, step away from the plane," one of the guards said.

Lucas, who still had on his Time Force uniform, walked over to them. "I'm Inspector Lucas Kendal of the National Transportation Safety Bureau," he quickly flashed his Time Force badge, then put it away. "I'm here to investigate anything unusual about the engines on this plane. I have reason to believe it will fall victim to sabotage," he said, trying to sound as professional as he could. "Has there been anything out of the ordinary going on today?" he asked them.

The guards looked at one another with skepticism, unsure if they should believe his story or not. It was Tommy who took a step forward. "Answer his question, there could be lives at risk here," he said.

"There was a man here earlier wearing the same uniform as Inspector Kendal. He said that one of the engines were damaged and dispatched a repair team to fix it. Other than that, no," one of the guards told him.

"Which engine?"

"Number four. He checked it and double checked it, it was all up to code," he said.

Without a word, Lucas and Tommy rushed over to engine four, and no sooner did they open the panel alongside the engine did they find a small metal device attached to it. "Thank you for your help, but we'll take it from here," Lucas said.

"Should we cancel the flight?"

"No, like you said, everything is in working order. We just had to be sure that the repairs were done properly. We wouldn't want any incidents, now would we?"

"No sir," the guards said, hurrying away.

"What is it?" Tommy asked after the guards were gone.

"It's a bomb, set to go off in the next five minutes," he said.

"Can you defuse it?"

"If I can't, we don't have to worry about being around to regret it," Lucas sighed.

(*)

"There's nothing unusual here," Rocky said as he and the other rangers searched the beach. The sun had long since set, and the light of the moon reflected off the river.

It was Adam who reached for his communicator. "Billy, do you have any information on that vortex yet? We're coming up short here," he said.

'Nothing so far. It seems to have been a random flux in the space/time continuum. From what I can tell, it's nothing to worry about,' 

"Alright guys, let's head back to the Command Center," Rocky said.

"You guys go, I'm going to stick around here just in case," Tommy told them.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine," he assured them.

"I'll stay with you, just in case," Kim offered, walking over to Tommy.

"Call us if you need us," Aisha said as she, Rocky and Adam teleported back to the Command Center.

After making sure no one else was around, both Kim and Tommy powered down. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" Kim asked him as they stared at the moonlight reflecting off the river.

"Yeah."

"Do you ever wonder about the future?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"This peace conference got me to thinking about the future. We're not going to be in Angel Grove the rest of our lives, and sooner or later, something will call us away and we'll have to transfer our powers just like Trini and the others did. I just wonder what the future has in store for us," she said.

Tommy reached over, grabbing her hand. Their fingers intertwined as Kim rested her head on his shoulder. "Lets find out together," he sighed.

She smiled.

(*)

_'Jen, this is Tommy. Do you read me?'_

Jen reached for her morpher. "I hear you loud and clear Tommy, what did you find?" she asked.

'Lucas and I found a bomb planted in the fourth engine, but we aren't sure we'll be able to defuse it in time,'

"How much time do we have?"

'Less than three minutes,' 

"Can you remove the bomb?"

'Even if we could, we wouldn't be able to get it safely away from the airport in time. We're running out of options,'

"I've got an idea, I'm on the way," she said, rushing towards the runway.

It didn't take her too long to arrive on the scene, where Lucas was getting nervious. "Only two minutes to go Jen, theres nothing I can do," he told her.

"Take the bomb off the plane," she ordered.

"But we won't be able to get it….."

"Take the bomb off the plane," she repeated.

Without another word, Lucas disconnected the bomb from the engine, handing it to Tommy, who quickly passed it to Jen. She placed the bomb under her arm, and then reached for her morpher. "Vector Cycle, on line," she called out.

Within seconds, the Vector Cycle appeared, and she quickly strapped the bomb onto the seat. Once it was secure, she programmed the cycle, and it took off, flying away from the airport.

"Good thinking Jen," Tommy said.

"Now the plane can launch without any problems and whoever planted the bomb will see the explosion and think the plane blew up," she said.

"Lets get Katie and get the hell out of here guys," Jen said.

(*)

The four of them arrived to the beach, but stopped dead in their tracks when they noticed Tommy and Kim sitting near the shore.

"What are they doing here?" Katie asked.

Tommy was amazed. "I remember this day. Zordon sent us out to investigate a temporal vortex, but we never found anything. Kim and I stayed out here all night staring into the sky. It was the night we promised never to leave one another," he said.

"The time line must have shifted again, you don't have any memories of Samantha," Jen pointed out.

"Yes and no. Its like I can remember both of them. I have memories of being with Kim, but I also remember Samantha,"

"Probably just a side effect of the time shifts and your treatments. I'm sure it will fade," Jen assured him.

"This is great, but how are we suppose to get to the time ship without them seeing us?" Lucas asked.

"Somehow I don't think that will be a problem," Katie mentioned.

The four of them glanced towards the beach again, where Tommy had taken off Kim's shirt as she laid on top of him. The two of them kissed, wrapping their arms around one another. 

"Quite the ladies man, weren't you?"

Tommy blushed. "Can we go now?" he asked.

(*)

A vortex appeared in the sky over Time Force headquarters, and moments later, the time ship emerged. As the vortex closed itself, the ship managed to land on the runway just outside the building.

As soon as Jen and the others stepped out the time ship, Captain Logan greeted them. "I take it your mission was a success?" he inquired.

"Yes, but we have a bigger problem on our hands. Whoever is responsible for these incursions is a member of Time Force," Jen told them.


	7. Chapter Seven

"Report," Captain Logan said as he sat down at the head of the conference table.

Jen, who was sitting on the right, stood up. "Lucas and Tommy were able to successfully find and remove the bomb from the plane engine without incident. However, it was necessary to sacrifice the Vector Cycle," she told him.

"I consider it an acceptable lose. The history logs indicate that Jason, Trini and Zach all made it to the peace conference and as a result, history has been corrected," he said.

"So why are things still so different?" Katie asked, injecting herself into the meeting.

"Preventing that plane from exploding was only one incursion of many. There are still infractions in the time line, each of them targeting a former ranger,"

"While we were there, one of the guards mentioned seeing someone in a uniform like mine, which suggests that it was someone from Time Force itself that planted the bomb in the first place," Lucas brought up.

The captain paused. "Any leads?"

"No, sir."

"Why are former rangers being targeted? If it is someone from Time Force, the fact that their morphers shield them from shifts in the time line would be pointless. They'll all be long since dead by the time Time Force is founded," Tommy mentioned.

"It has to be more than that. Rangers from the 21st century had very limited knowledge about time travel and parallel realities. There wouldn't be a need to eliminate them, unless….." Jen was cut short.

"….. unless someone wanted to eliminate the Power Rangers altogether," they heard a voice say.

They all turned around as Trip walked into the room wearing his Time Force uniform. "Trip," Katie called out, leaving the table and rushing over to him.

"Trip is here? But how?"

"When you repaired the time line, future history was restored," Captain Logan said.

"What do you mean someone wants to eliminate the Power Rangers?" Tommy asked, hoping he would give an explanation.

"Think about it; the Power Rangers have been the dominant force in the universe for over 1000 years, preserving peace and defending countless worlds. If all the rangers were eliminated, there would be no one to oppose the forces of evil. Evil would be the dominant force, and there would be no one to oppose it," Trip explained.

"But in a universe of total anarchy, how would you restore order? It would take a tremendous around of power to convince an entire universe to follow your every command," Lucas pointed out.

"If it is someone from Time Force, they would need security clearance to gain access to the time ship, and would need level four clearance to review the history logs," she turned to Katie. "Katie, search the data base for all personnel with level four clearance and all those who have has access to the time ship. Janitors, repair crews, anyone," she ordered.

"I'm on it," Katie said, rushing out the room.

"Trip, have you been able to determine where the next incursion is going to take place?" she asked.

"According to my readings, the infraction is in October of 1996. Jason is killed when he tries to stop someone from robbing a convenience store only a few blocks away from the peace conference in New York City," he said.

"1996? That's the year Jason got the gold ranger powers," Tommy mentioned.

"It seems like not only does the saboteur want to eliminate the rangers, he strikes at points in history when power levels are at their highest," Jen said.

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it; first was 1994 when the original three rangers transferred their powers to three new rangers. If memory serves me right, for a brief moment, there were 9 rangers just as the transfer completed," Tommy nodded, confirming her suspicions. "Now the saboteur is going after Jason just before he can get the golden ranger powers, which were said to have as much power as the entire zeo crystal itself," she explained.

"That doesn't make sense, why go after the rangers while they're strongest? Why not go after them as children? Or worse, go after their parents to prevent them from being born at all?" the Captain asked.

"I'm not sure. You can only guess that if he did, other rangers would be selected to control the powers, making all his efforts pointless," Lucas said.

"All of you should report to the time ship as soon as possible and correct this infraction. I'll keep Trip here with me so we can track down any more incursions in the time line," he said.

"Lucas, you should stay here too, Tommy and I can handle this one," Jen said.

"You sure?"

"Positive. We'll be back before you know it," she said.

(*)

Katie searched through the logs in the computer, trying to find something that gave her a clue as to who the saboteur was. She'd gone through over half the active roster of Time Force and had come up with nothing.

Her eyes were beginning to bother her. Staring at a computer screen for that long was taking its toll on her. Her neck stiffened, she could feel the muscles in her back tightening. _'I need a vacation,' _she thought to herself.

Just then, someone came up from behind and began to massage her shoulders. Without questioning who it was, she allowed herself to relax, sinking down into the chair and letting out a sigh of relief. "You're too tense, you should relax a little," a voice said from behind.

"Keep this up and relaxing won't be a problem," she sighed.

"I heard about your mission, how did it go?"

"We're still stumped on who the saboteur is, but with Tommy and Jen here, we'll find out who it is soon enough," she said.

"No leads?"

"Lucas believes it's someone from Time Force, but that's all we know," Katie said, closing her eyes as they continued to massage her.

"Anything I can do?"

"Just don't stop doing what you're doing," she moaned.

For a moment, there was silence. "Have you told anyone about us yet?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I just haven't found the right time. I don't think people would understand it," she admitted.

"People still don't trust me, do they?"

"That isn't it at all. I just don't think people are ready to deal with us as a couple. After all, you were a….." she was cut short.

"….criminal? Was that what you were going to say?"

"No, but it's true."

"I'm a different person now, you know that. I served my time, I paid to debt, and I even did my part to save the world. I deserve to have a normal life now, to settle down with you, to start a family,"

"I'm not ready to start a family yet, I still have my whole career ahead of me. Besides, you have your hands full with….." she was cut short.

"You're right, maybe one is enough for right now,"

"I promise I'll tell them about us soon. Right now, we have a universe to save and I have another 10,000 active files to…..," she paused, opening her eyes and sitting up in her chair. "That's it," she exclaimed.

"What? What is it?"

"I've been going through the active roster of Time Force, hoping to find a clue about who the saboteur is. It just occurred to me, I should look through the inactive files," she said.

"Why?"

"Come on, a disgruntle employee seeks the ultimate revenge on the company that gave him his walking papers. I bet our guy was fired from Time Force recently, and I'm willing to bet they have access to the history logs," Katie said.

"I'll let you get back to work. My place, 0900 hours. And I'm not taking no for an answer,"

"I'm not giving no for an answer. I'll be there," she smiled.

(*)

"Prepare for temporal displacement," Jen warned as she prepped the time ship for launch.

"Are you sure we can handle this one by ourselves?" Tommy asked as he took his seat at the control panel across from her.

"No, but there's something going on in Time Force and I need to have Lucas and Trip here just in case something happens," she said.

"What about Katie?"

"By the time we get back, she should know who our guy is and we'll be able to make the arrest. After that, it'll only be a matter of time before all the incursions are taken care of," she told him.

"You're right. Let's do it."

"Lift off in 5…4…3…2…" the engines fired up, and the time ship lifted off the launch pad. In the distance, a temporal vortex opened, and the time ship flew inside.


	8. Chapter Eight

New York City, 1996

Trini opened the door to her hotel room, not even taking the time to take off her shoes or coat before she collapsed onto the bed, letting out a sigh of relief. It had been another long day as an Ambassador of Peace, and although she'd loved every minute of it, she was glad it was coming to an end. _'After two years of negotiating and diplomatic debates, saving the world seems like a piece of cake,' _she thought to herself.

She was looking forward to going back to Angel Grove, to seeing all her friends again, to she how different things had become since she left. After all, two years is a long time. _'A lot of things can change,'_ she sighed inwardly.

Her thoughts shifted to how _her_ life had changed over the last 24 months. For a while, there were some withdrawl symptoms from giving up her morpher, but after a few days, it passed. Spending months at a time living out a suitcase, going from hotel to hotel all over the world, she'd grown very close to both Jason and Zach. There were the only two people in the entire conference that she talked to. Granted, there were _associates_, people she respected, but none of them could be considered friends. Not like Zach and Jason. Especially like Zach.

The two of them had grown closer than she ever imagined, while Jason seemed to cling to the life he left behind. There wasn't a day that went by that he didn't mention their past, how they use to morph into action and fight unspeakable evils. Not Zach though, he seemed more than content with leaving it behind. So was she, and as a result, the two of them began to spend every free moment they had together.

Then it happened…..

It was after the conference in Germany. Accommodations were limited, and the two of them were asked to share a room. As fate would have it, the room only had one bed. Granted, it was a queen size bed, but by the end of the night, it may as well been a full size. From that day on, they'd be inseparable. It amazed her how she'd been fighting side by side with Zach for years, but didn't really _see_ him until they were cramped into a hotel room in another country.

Her thoughts were broken as the hotel room door opened and Jason walked in, tossing his bag down on the floor next to the bed.

"It's finally over," he sighed, flopping down on the bed next to her.

Jason laid his arm out on the bed, and Trini obliged him, rolling over onto his arm. He responded by pulling her a little closer as she rested her head on his chest.

"Yeah, it'll be good to finally go home," she said.

"I think the first thing I'm doing to do is go to Ernie's and get one of the milk shakes he use to make. God, I use to love those," he said, licking his lips at the thought of it.

"I'm going to go see my cousin Sylvia. I got a letter from her mom a few weeks ago, shes going to high school in the fall," she said.

"That's great."

Just then, Zach walked into the room. "Hey, what are you doing with my girlfriend?" he asked.

"Sorry man, she couldn't resist me," Jason told him.

"He's right, I couldn't help it," she confirmed.

"Well, I guess I'll just have to give Angela a call when I get back to Angel Grove," he said.

Trini quickly sat up, walking over to him and wrapping her arms around his waist. "I changed my mind, I want you back," she said.

"Good taste. They say what you've had the Zach…." He was cut short.

"….. you never go back," Jason and Trini said in unison.

"You've been using that same line for years now man, give it a rest."

"Hey, no use changing a classic," Zach told them.

Jason sat up. "I don't know about you guys, but after sitting in that stuffy room for two hours, I'm starving."

"Me too, but our flight leaves in the next 30 minutes. We really need to get to the airport," she mentioned.

Jason looked at his watch. "Hey, didn't we pass a little store on our way back to the hotel? I think I'll head over there and grab something before we go. You guys want something?" he asked.

"I could go for a Pepsi," Zach said.

"Bring me a Snickers, a bag of hot chips," she paused. "And oh yeah, a pregnancy test," Trini said.

"Alright, I'll be….." he paused.

"What?" both Jason and Zach said with amazement.

"I didn't want to say anything until I was sure, but I missed my cycle two months in a row. I've been getting sick in the morning, and I have this weird craving for Snickers and honey," Trini confessed.

"Congratulations, both of you," he said.

Zach glanced down at Trini's stomach, amazed that he hadn't noticed her slight bulge before this moment, and simply passed out.

"And bring him as ice bag and some aspirin. He'll be needing it when he comes to," she laughed.

(*)

"Zordon, I'm detecting a temporal vortex of some sort. From the looks of it, this one is in New York City," Alpha V said, going over the readings in the Command Chamber.

"I sense it too Alpha, it's exactly like the one we encountered two years ago," Zordon added.

"Should I contact the rangers?"

"No, the equipment we have now is vastly superior to the technology we had then, we should be able to determine what is causing these vortexes' and put a stop to them ourselves. Besides, this is a critical time for the rangers, we're still waiting for Tommy to return with a candidate for the golden powers," he said.

"I hope you're right Zordon."

(*)

"Welcome to New York City, the city that never sleeps," Jen said as she and Tommy walked down the crowded streets.

"I thought that was Las Vegas," he mentioned.

She paused. "You're right, I was never any again good with 21st century trivia," she admitted.

The two of them had already been in the city for a while, and Jen had taken the liberty to find herself some civilian clothes. After all, the 21st century wasn't ready to accept a Time Force officer. 

Tommy couldn't help but admire the way the skirt Jen picked out for herself clung to her waist and hips. He found himself _distracted_ from the mission, but quickly shook it off. _'I'm a married man, damn it,' _he reminded himself. "If memories serves me right, Jason and the others are staying at the Hilton, we should work our way there and check all the convenience stores," he suggested.

"That could take hours, and that's time we don't have."

"So what do you suggest?"

The two of them stopped in front of a store. "Come on, we'll go in here and ask how far the Hilton is from here," she said.

"Good, after all this time traveling, I could use a Pepsi," Tommy said as the two of them walked into the store.

Tommy headed to the back of the store while Jen approached the counter. "Excuse me," she said, hoping to get the attention of the man behind the counter.

He turned around, and his eyes lit up with fear. "Oh my God," he mumbled.

"What?"

Before Jen could move, someone grabbed her arms, putting them behind her back, then pressed a gun to the back of her head. "Give me all the money in the drawer or this bitch gets it!" a voice said.

Jen glanced up at the mirror in the corner, where she saw Tommy ready to make a move, but she shook her head slightly, signaling him to wait.

"Whatever you say," the man behind the counter said, quickly opening the drawer.

At that moment, the door to the store opened and Jason walked in. "Hey, do you guys have any….." before he could finish his sentence, Jen took her opening and rammed an elbow into the attacker's ribs, forcing him to drop the gun. As it fell to the ground, it went off.

It all happened so quickly as the attacker rushed out the door and Jen dusted herself off. She glanced down, only to see Jason lying on the floor.

"Oh no," she sighed.

Tommy rushed from the back of the store, rolling Jason over. "He's okay, it just looks like he bumped his head on the side the counter when he fell. I don't see any bullet wounds or any blood, he's fine," he assured her.

"When is your other self suppose to meet up with him?"

He paused. "As I remember it, I went to the hotel, but he'd already checked out. I saw Zach in the hallway and we headed down here to meet up with Jason. That means….." before he could finish his sentence, the door opened as Zach and Tommy walked in.

Tommy quickly laid on his stomach, face down on the floor.

"Oh my God, what happened?" Zach screamed, tending to Jason on the floor.

"There was a guy in here, he put a gun to my head and tried to rob the store, but-" she paused. "-My boyfriend stopped him," Jen explained.

"I'll go after the guy," Zach said as he rushed out the store.

"What about him? Is he okay?" Tommy asked, trying to tend to the man face down on the floor.

"He'll be fine, but your friend might have a concussion. You should call for help," she said.

"Right," he said as he rushed out the store as well.

They waited a moment until they were sure he was gone, and then Tommy sat up, dusting himself off. "That was _too_ close," Tommy sighed.

"Yeah, it was a good thing…." She paused. "Wait a second, you said this is the way you remembered all of this happening the first time?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"That means the saboteur is still here," Jen said.

"Do you think he was the guy with the gun?" he asked.

"Could be."

Tommy turned to the man behind the counter. "Sir, we need the tape from your security camera," he told him.

"You saved my life and stopped that hooligan from robbing my store, it's the least I can do," he said as he hurried to the back of the store, coming back a few seconds later with a tape in hand.

"We should get this back to Captain Logan," Jen said.

"Thanks again," he said as he nodded at the man behind the counter, and then rushed out the store.

(*)

_'They think they're so smart. They think if they go behind me and clean up my dirty work, they'll save themselves and their own time. Those fools don't even realize what they're doing, and soon, very soon, the entire universe; past, present and future, will belong to me,' _he thought to himself, letting out a sinister laugh as he set coordinates in his timeship.

'Coordinates set and locked. Destination, Angel Grove 1998. Prepare for temporal displacement,' the computer warned.

The vortex opened, and the time ship flew inside.


	9. Chapter Nine

The time ship landed in the docking area, and as soon as Tommy and Jen stepped off the ship, Katie was there to greet them.

"I take it the mission went well," she said with her usual, cheerful voice.

"It was a little rocky there was a second, but we pulled it off. Have you had any luck with the Time Force personnel records?" Jen inquired.

The three of them headed inside the building. Katie led them down the hall, making their way to the briefing room. "It occurred to me that no one on the active roster would be able to pull off what's going on here, so I decided to look through the inactive files of people who were recently terminated from Time Force. Take a look," she said, handing Jen a folder.

"Camille Summers. I remember her, we trained with her in the academy," she mentioned, skimming through the files.

"Yes, but she was released from Time Force when she was caught going through the history files without authorization. She believed that parallel realities can and _do_ exist on a different plane of existence. Once she was released from Time Force, she dedicated her time to proving that," Katie explained.

"But these parallel worlds _have_ to exist. When the time line is changed and future history is altered, that in itself should be considered an alternate universe," Tommy brought up.

"Not bad for a 21st century ranger."

"The existence of these other realities have been confirmed, but Camille's intention was to merge these realities into one realm. By definition, to merge realities like that would destroy both worlds," she said.

"How would you even go about destroying the barriers that separate different realities?" he inquired.

"There are no known methods, but in theory, a temporal displacement wave large enough would be able to break through, but only if the barriers were already weakened somehow. Then there's the task of generating a big enough explosion," Jen explained.

"We should check Camille out, see what her involvement is in all this," he said.

"Already on it. Trip and Lucas are on the way to her place now," the three of them walked into the conference room, where Captain Logan was sitting on the end of the table. "Captain," Katie acknowledged, then walked out the room, leaving Jen and Tommy behind.

"I see your mission was a success," the Captain said.

"Yes, and we think we may have conclusive proof as to who the saboteur is," she said.

"Well let's have it."

Tommy pulled a tape out his pocket, sliding it across the table to the Captain. "All we need now is a VCR," he said.

(*)

"This is the place," Lucas said as they pulled up in front of the house.

Trip glanced down at the paper he'd written the address on, confirming the location as the two of them stepped out the car and headed for the door.

"What are we expecting to find here? If she in involved with the shifts in time, it's not like we can bring it up in casual conversation and she'll tell us everything we need to know," he brought up.

"We're here to gather information. No more, no less," he said, knocking on the door.

As he knocked, the door itself crept open. "Looks like someone else has been here," Lucas said, reaching for his weapon.

The two of them headed inside, where there had obviously been a struggle of some kind. The furniture had been knocked over, lamps broken, holes in the walls. Trip hurried over to the wall.

"Disrupter fire. There was a battle here, and recently, the wall is still warm," he said, gently touching the burn mark on the wall.

In the distance, they heard something move. With a nod, they remained silent as they headed for the back rooms. It was Trip who kicked in the door as Lucas covered him, and then headed inside. As soon as they walked in the room, they saw a body motionless on the bed, face down in a pillow. Next to the bed was…..

"Ransik?" Lucas said in shock, aiming his disrupter at him.

"No, this isn't what you think," he said in his defense.

Trip walked over to the woman, rolling her over to get a good look at her. Next, he placed his fingers on the side of her neck. "This is Camille all right, she's dead," he sighed.

"Ransik, you're under arrest for the murder of Camille Summers and conspiracy to alter the time line," he said, putting Ransik's hands behind his back and cuffing him.

"Lucas, you don't know what you're doing. This is a mistake," Ransik insisted.

"The only mistake I made was ever trusting you," he said, pulling him out the room.

(*)

"So where is the next infraction going to take place?" Tommy asked as the four of them sat at the table in the briefing room.

"We've tracked it down to Angel Grove, 1998. For whatever reason, the pink space ranger will be at a nuclear power plant. There will be an implosion, and the entire building will go," the Captain said.

"An _implosion_?"

"Yes, we've been able to determine that the first bomb was an implosion device as well, its only function to interact with the nuclear energy in the plant and do damage to the space/time continuum," he told them.

"Holds up with the theory that Camille is trying to merge the realities," Jen said.

'Jen, this is Trip. Come in,' 

Jen reached for her morpher, and a holographic image of Trip appeared. "What is it Trip?" she asked.

'Lucas and I are on our way back to headquarters. Camille Summers is dead and we have her killer in custody,'

"Oh by God. Who is it?"

'It's Ransik,' 

Katie stood up. "That's impossible," she screamed.

'Meet us in the containment area. We should be there in five minutes,' 

"We'll be there Trip," Jen said.

"These has to be a mistake, Ransik couldn't have done this," Katie insisted.

"Lucas and Trip found him at the murder scene, what more proof do you need?" Tommy asked her.

"It was a set up, it has to be. Ransik is innocent,"

"Why are you so passionate about this? We knew Ransik was a criminal to begin with. It's not like the two of you are…." She paused as she noticed the look on Katie's face. "Oh my God, you and Ransik?" she inquired.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Captain Logan replied.

"We knew that none of you would accept it. Even without his mutant half, even after he helped us defeat the mutorgs, we knew you wouldn't trust him," she said.

"Looks like you were manipulated Katie. Ransik _knew_ what he was planning and used your feelings for him to help cover up his plans. Unfortunately, that makes you an accessory to conspiracy against Time Force," he motioned to Jen. "Take her into custody with Ransik," he said.

Reluctantly, Jen walked over to Katie, putting her hands behind her back. "I'm sorry Katie, you're under arrest," she sighed.

"Take her morpher from her, and once she's locked away, you can focus on getting to the nuclear power plant," he said.

Without a word, Tommy followed Jen as she escorted Katie out the room.

"Jen, you know me better than this. You know this isn't right," Katie insisted.

"I thought I knew you Katie, I really did."

"Think about it, if Ransik _was_ behind the conspiracy to alter time, when the time line shifted, so would his memories. He doesn't have his mutant half anymore; his memories would change just like everyone else. It can't be him," she said.

That was enough to force Jen to pause. "Without a morpher, our memories would change like everyone else," she mumbled to herself.

Tommy noticed something was wrong. "What is it Jen?" he asked.

"That's it. Without a morpher, when the time line was altered, everything would change. Our memories would change and we would have no knowledge of the former reality," she said.

"We know that Jen, that's why we….." he paused. "Captain Logan," he sighed.

"He's never had a morpher, yet he has knowledge of where and when the next infraction is going to take place. The only way he could be unaffected by the shifts was if….."

"….. he was doing it himself," Katie sighed.

"It all makes sense now. He sends us on these missions that we complete with ease, meanwhile he's off on a different mission trying to sabotage the time line. Camille would have known that, so he fired her from Time Force," Jen said.

"Even after she was fired, she continued her research and discovered that Captain Logan himself was responsible for the changes, so he had her killed," he added.

"But how does Ransik play into all of this?"

"He was set up Jen, can't you see that? Captain Logan needed someone to take the fall for Camille's death, and he _knew_ that you guys still didn't completely trust Ransik, so he sent him," Katie said.

"What do we do?"

"First things first, we have to stop that implosion at the nuclear power plant. Next, we have to stop Captain Logan was going back in time and stopping another incursion," she said.

"Leave Ransik and I in a holding cell, that way the captain won't suspect anything. You guys go and stop the implosion. We'll deal with Logan," she said.

By the time they made it to the containment center, Lucas and Trip were already there with Ransik.

"Katie," Ransik called out, trying to snatch away from Lucas, but with no luck.

"Ransik," she sighed.

"I was set up, all I did was go to the Summer's woman's house like Captain Logan asked me to, and then….."

"Its okay Ransik, we know," she turned to Lucas. "Let him go, we'll explain it later," she told him.

"But Jen, he……"

"Do it," she said in a firmer tone.

Without another word, Lucas let Ransik out of the cuffs. "Katie, you know what to do. Fill Ransik in. Trip, Lucas, we have work to do," she said.

Ransik and Katie walked into the holding cell, closing the door behind themselves. "Don't worry, we'll take care of it," Katie told them.

"Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on?" Trip asked.

"It's a long story my friend," Tommy sighed.

(*)

Captain Logan walked into the main shuttle bay, glancing at the launch pad to discover that the time ship was still docked. He walked over to the controls, pushing a button.

"Jen, this is Captain Logan. Do you read me?" he asked.

'Loud and clear captain,' 

"Why haven't you left for the 21st century yet?"

'We had some problems getting Katie and Ransik into custody, but the situation in under control and we're in the time ship as we speak,'

"All of you?"

'Yes, sir. Myself, Tommy, Lucas and Trip are all here. We'll stop the saboteur, save the pink space ranger, protect the nuclear power plant and be back before you know it,'

"Excellent work, Logan out," he said, watching as the time ship lifted off. The temporal vortex was beginning to open, but the captain input another set of instructions into the time ship. The vortex opened, and the ship was inches away from heading inside……

…… then it exploded.


	10. Chapter Ten

Jen took a seat at the head of the table, which, until this point, had always been Captain Logan's chair. The others took their spots around the table as Jen gestured to Trip, motioning him to begin.

"After reviewing the personnel logs, we discovered that Captain Logan – the real Captain Logan – was killed years ago in this time line. We also….."

"Wait a second Trip, what do you mean _this_ time line? It's the same one. We're all here," Alex brought up.

"It is, but then again it isn't. You see, when the saboteur went back in time and made changes, the future was affected as well. There are several critical differences in the time line now, changing it for _us_ into an alternate reality, but reality to everyone else," he explained.

"But things don't seem different to me, this is how it's always been."

"When Logan changed things, you didn't exist anymore. But, when we repaired the time line, you were brought back. The major change now is that you never had a Chrono morpher, which changed every event after that, arriving to this moment. Since you never had a morpher, you're unaware of the changes that have been made because your memories of events changed along with the reality," Trip told him.

"There should really be a branch of Time Force that deals with this kinda thing," he mentioned.

"There is. Rather, there _was_. Temporal Investigations usually dealt with…." Jen cleared her throat, reminding Trip to get back on track. "Oh, right. Once we determined that the real Logan was gone, were we able to determine that the Logan who'd been here giving us our orders had to be from an alternate time line. Once she figured that one, I was able to determine what his plan was," he said.

"Which is?"

"He was never trying to eliminate the power rangers at all. He goal was to weaken the barriers between parallel realities so that eventually, the realities would merge," he said.

"But the barriers would have to be severely damaged," Lucas said.

"It is. Think about it; Logan would travel back in time and change something, followed by us who would travel to that same time and repair things. The temporal vortex' are rifts in the space/time continuum, and with that much concentrated stress on the continuum, it weakened the barriers," he said. 

"It would still take a massive explosion to completely collapse the barriers," Jen brought up.

"Like the one that's about to happen in Angel Grove at the nuclear power plant. If that implosion device goes off and the nuclear plant goes up, everything from that moment on will change. With that significant a change, there's no telling what kind of damage it would do," Trip told them.

"So we have to go back and stop the plant from exploding," Alex said.

"Yes, but that's only a temporary solution. The barriers are still weak, so to repair the damage once and for all, we have to find out where and when the fake Logan got here and when he originally began to make the changes in time," he said.

"We should ask him," Tommy suggested.

Jen reached for her communicator. "Katie, this is Jen. Do you read me?" she asked.

'I read you Jen,' 

"Do you have Captain Logan in custody?" she asked.

'Yup. Got him locked up in containment room four,' 

"Good. I'm sending Lucas and Trip to interrogate Logan, maybe they can get something out of him," she said.

'We'll be ready,' 

Without a word, Trip and Lucas stood up, making their way out the room.

"We have to continue with our mission to the nuclear power plant. Alex, you'll come with Tommy and I to the year 1998 to stop the explosion," Jen instructed.

"But how? Captain Logan destroyed the time ship when he thought you were on it," he mentioned.

"I know, but there's a prototype on level 13 in the hanger bay that we can take," she said.

"Prototype? You mean is in _'never been tested' _prototype?"

"Its our best shot if we're going to stop that explosion. Let's get to work," Jen ordered.

(*)

Captain Logan had been tied to a chair with his hands behind his back as Lucas and Trip stood across from him. The only light in the room was the spotlight that shined down onto Logan as Lucas began to walk around him in a circle.

"We already know about you, about where you're from," he said.

"You know nothing. If you didn't, you wouldn't be in here like some bad 21st century cop show," the captain said.

"We know you're from another reality, so why don't you just….."

"Is that all you've got Lucas? '_We know you're from another reality'_" he mocked. "Jesus, no wonder you died in your first assignment on my world," he said.

"Just tell us….."

"I'm not telling you anything. The damage has been done, theres nothing you can do but sit back and watch the show," he told him.

"Lucas, this isn't working. He isn't going to tell us anything," Trip mentioned.

"You should listen to the Xybrian, he's got more sense than I gave him credit for. I guess that jewel is his forehead_ does _work," he said.

Just then, Trip knocked the chair over, pulling his disrupter off his hip and aiming it at the captain's forehead. "Maybe this will persuade you to be a little more cooperative," he said.

"Trip, don't do…."

"Shut up Lucas. If he isn't going to tell us anything, then we have no use for him anyway," he said.

"You don't have the guts to….." the captain was cut short as Trip raised the setting on his disrupter.

"Level one is enough to render a man unconscious from over 100 feet away, I wonder what level six would do at point blank range," Trip said.

"Trip, we don't have….."

Trip aimed the disrupter at Lucas. "Stay out of it pretty boy, I can handle him," he turned his attention back to Captain Logan. "Last chance," he mentioned.

"Or else what?"

Trip raised the setting again. "Or else we'll see what level nine can do,"

The captain saw the serious, unwavering look in Trip's eyes, the look of confidence on his face. "I was sent here, none of this was my idea," he said.

"Sent by who?"

"Ransorg."

"Who?"

"Ransorg is our leader, controller of all mutants."

"What are your orders?"

"To weaken the barriers between realities so that _my_ Time Force can take over."

"Your Time Force?"

"On my world, Time Force lost the battle against the mutants, and mutants took over Time Force. The human resistance forces were captured, killed, but some were given missions to carry out. I was one of them. They injected me with mutant DNA and told me if I was successful in my mission, they would reverse the process and my life would be spared," he explained.

"If mutants already control the world in your reality, why come here?"

"The war was too much for them. There were heavy causalities on both sides. Attempts at mutant/human breeding failed because of the high levels of radiation on my world. They're plan was to….."

"….. to capture the humans on this world for breeding and free the captured mutants. With that much power, mutants could rule the universe," Lucas said.

"But what they don't know is that if our realities merge, it will destroy both. The imbalance of the space/time continuum would cause not just our two realities, but_ all_ realities to merge. The strain would be too much and the continuum would collapse, destroying everything in the process. The past, the present, the future… all of it would be gone," Trip brought up.

"Then you might as well kill me now. I have nothing to go back to, nothing to live for," Captain Logan told him.

Trip stood up, putting his disrupter away and set the chair up straight. "It isn't our place to tamper with other realities, so there's nothing I can do for your world, but if you help us save ours, I can promise you that you'll be allowed to stay here," he said.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Tell me when and where the first incursion took place. If we can stop it from happening, the barriers will never be weakened and our realities will stay separate," he said.

"The instability began in the year 2002 when the Time Force rangers and the Wild Force rangers joined forces to stop the mutorgs. The mutorgs were charging an energy beam when Ransik stopped them. The blast eliminated not only their mutant halves, turning them into orgs, but Ransik's mutant half as well," he explained.

"We were there, we remember it happening."

"What you didn't know was that the blast had a nuclear/chemical reaction to the reactor at the power plant you were fighting in. Even after the reactor had been shut down, the blast was enough to open a rift in the space/time continuum. The three mutant halves and Ransik's mutant half were sucked through the rift and traveled into my reality, where because of a random flux in the continuum, they merged to become the ultimate mutant, Ransorg. It was under Ransorg's command that the mutants of my time were able to rise against the humans, and with no human side of his own, he slaughtered millions without mercy," he told them.

"But if that's true, why target former rangers in the past?" Trip asked him.

"Ransorg's hope was that by attacking the former rangers when their energy levels were at their highest, it was speed up the deterioration of the barriers."

"Of course, the radiation from the morphers combined with the implosion devices would weaken the barriers even more," he said. 

"So the damage done to your world is…. Is _our_ fault," Lucas sighed.

"I have a plan that could put an end to all of this once and for all," Trip said.


	11. Chapter Eleven

"I can't believe you called me a pretty boy," Lucas said as he and Trip walked down the hall on their way back to the briefing room.

"I told you, good cop/bad cop works every time," he said with a grin.

The two of them walked into the briefing room where Jen and the others were preparing for their mission. Trip took his seat across from Jen as Lucas sat down across from them.

"What did you find out?"

"Captain Logan told us when and where the very first infraction takes place. It was in 2002 when the Wild Force rangers helped us capture the mutorgs," he said.

"But how is that possible?"

"The energy blast that took Ransik's and the mutorg's mutant halves had a nuclear/chemical reaction to the reactor core in the plant we were fighting in. The radiation was enough to open a small rift in the space/time continuum and their mutant halves were sucked into an alternate reality. Those mutant halves merged, becoming Ransorg," Trip told them.

"Logan was sent here by Ransorg to trick us into weakening the barriers so that they would be able to invade our world," Lucas continued.

"But don't they know that will destroy both worlds?" Jen brought up.

"Apparently not. The only way to stop this is to prevent the reactor from having a nuclear/chemical reaction to the energy blast, and then capture the mutant halves before they have a chance to merge with Ransik's mutant half. If we don't, we'll have our own Ransorg to deal with," he explained.

Jen glanced around the room. "Any theories?"

"There were twelve rangers at the reactor plant, there's no way we'll be able to sneak in there undetected, stop that reactor from exploding and capture three mutant halves without being seen," Katie pointed out.

"We have to find a way to get both sets of rangers out of there as quickly as possible so we can do our work."

"If I remember it correctly, most of the battle took place outside the plant. If we were wait until _after_ the reactor is destroyed and concentrate on repairing the rift, we might have a better chance of going unseen by the rangers," Ransik mentioned.

Jen turned to Trip. "Can we repair a rift?"

"In theory, yes. From what Captain Logan told me, it was a small rift, just enough to let the mutant halves get through. A high intensity burst of ion radiation should be enough to seal the rift, but we still have to stop the mutant halves from merging. Standard containment _should_ work, but there's still the question of how do we capture them in spirit form?" he replied.

"We can't. You're talking about mixing science and technology with magic and spells, it can't be done," Alex told them.

"He's right, there would have to be……." He was cut short.

"There is a way," Ransik said, getting the group's attention. "When I originally found the orgs in the lost temple, I was given org powers in exchange for freeing them and allowing them to combine with my mutant DNA. Before I freed them, their spirits were trapped in stone statues. All we have to do is find out how they were imprisoned there and maybe we can duplicate it," he suggested.

"Do you still know where that temple is?"

"Yes."

"Trip, Alex, the two of you go with him to the temple and see what you can find out. Katie & Tommy, the two of you need to get up to level 13 and get the prototype time ship ready for launch. Lucas, we have to work on a way to emit an ion burst to close the rift," Jen instructed.

Everyone nodded, getting up from the table and walking out the room.

(*)

Katie and Tommy walked down a long, slender hallway on level 13, eventually coming to the end of the hall. There was a door of sorts, and a small panel on the left hand side. "Recognize K1 Alpha 725, enable," she said, putting her hand on the panel. 

There was a glow, as if the panel was scanning her hand, and moments later, the door opened. _'Code accepted, welcome Katie,'_ the computer replied.

They walked inside, where, in the distance, they could see the prototype time ship. This one had a much slimmer design than the regular ships. It was a metallic color, as oppose to yellow, and had more of a jet-like build.

"It's beautiful," Tommy sighed.

Katie walked over to the control panel in the hanger bay. "It's only been tested once, so there's no way to be sure if it will be able to get us there and back in one piece," she said.

"That's encouraging."

They headed down to the time ship itself, climbing inside and taking a seat at the main control station. "It shouldn't take long to run a system's diagnostic," she said.

"So," he paused. "How did you and Ransik end up together?" Tommy inquired.

She sighed. "It was a little after we came back from our mission to 2002 with the Wild Force rangers. Since he didn't have his mutant half anymore, Time Force felt as if they had no right to hold him. I was assigned to help he and Nadira adjust to live in the 31st century, helping them find a place to stay and getting them situated. You know, that kinda thing. One night Lucas and Nadira were out, and I went to check on Ransik. I don't know, one thing led to another and……" she paused, blushing slightly. "….. I guess the rest is history," she explained.

"All that matters is that you're happy," he said.

She smiled. "You're interested in Jen, aren't you?" she asked him.

Tommy blushed slightly, hoping Katie didn't notice. "What makes you say that?" he replied.

"I see the way you look at her. You've got the hots for her, don't you?"

"I do not. Even if I did, she's with Wes and I'm married," he pointed out.

"Tommy, Jen and Wes can never be together again. Jen has come to accept that, and even when all this is over, you won't be able to go back to your own time. The two of you might as well give it a shot," she said.

"No, I couldn't,"

"I see the way she looks at you, too."

"She does?" he asked, trying not to sound too excited.

"Come on, it's a girl thing. I've seen her a few times checking you out. There's nothing wrong with feeling the way you're feeling. You shouldn't feel like you're cheating on your wife, or that you're trying to take Jen away from Wes. You should concentrate on your feelings right here and right now," Katie said.

"I can't. For you, it's been a thousand years, but for me, it's only been a few days. Even while I was reviewing the history logs, I couldn't help but think about how Kimberly got along without me all those years," he sighed.

"I understand, but all I'm saying is prepare for your life here in 3000, but dwell on the life you can never go back to," she said.

_'Systems diagnostic complete. All systems functioning within specified parameters,'_ the computer announced.

"We're in business now. All we have to do is wait for the others," she said.

(*)

The three of them arrived at the ruins of the temple, only to find that most of it was destroyed. For as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but the remains of destroyed buildings.

"We're not going to find anything here that can help us," Alex said, searching through the rubble.

Trip and Ransik stood in front of a pillar, dusting it off slightly. "Do you see that?" Trip asked.

"It looks like some sort of sign."

"Or a symbol."

"But a symbol of what?" he inquired.

The symbol itself was a long staff of some kind, with a ball at the end. Inside the ball appeared to be lightening.

"It looks like a staff. The lightening inside could represent an org spirit," Trip speculated.

"But if that's true, how did they get trapped in the stone statues?"

He paused. "Maybe they used this staff to contain them, then transferred those spirits into statues," he dusted off the symbol a little more. "From what I've read about orgs, their spirits once traveled the world looking for something to use so they could take physical form. Without something for it to manifest itself, the spirit would continue to travel. It looks to me that the staff trapped the spirits and allows the holder of the staff to transfer the spirit to whatever they chose," he explained.

"If we had this staff, we could trap the spirits before they entered the rift, then use the standard Time Force containment procedure to lock them away in Cyro status," Alex said, injecting himself into the conversation.

"I recognize the staff, it was Master Org's," he paused. "I know where we have to go to get the staff," he said.

"Where?"

"The Nexus," Ransik told him.

(*)

"How's it coming?" Jen asked as she sat across from Lucas.

She didn't want to admit it, but she wasn't having the best time working on the ion charges. It simply wasn't her specialty. _'I should have had Trip stay here and work on these,' _she thought to herself.

The truth was, her mind wasn't really on her work. She wasn't even thinking about the mission, she found herself thinking of _him_. In a way, she felt as though she was betraying Wes for having feelings for someone else, but it was beyond her control. _'Hell, even Wes got married a few years after I left, what does it matter if I'm attracted to someone else?' _she asked herself, trying to justify her feelings. Once she realized she would never be able to go back to the 21st century to be with Wes, she decided to keep tabs on him. Sure enough, in 2006, only five years after they separated, Wes was married, settled down and had a child.

Without her.

Part of her felt betrayed, but she knew it would have made no sense for Wes to be faithful to their feelings for one another knowing that they could never be together. _'So why not be attracted to someone else? I deserve it. After all, I'm not talking about getting married. I just a good old fashioned……'_

"Jen," Lucas called out, breaking her train of thought.

"What is it?"

"The ion charges are set and fully charged. All we have to do is set these up around the reactor, and once all the other rangers are out the building and the rift begins to open, detonate the charges and seal the rift once and for all," he told her.

"Good, very good."

"Are you okay Jen?" he asked.

"Yeah, just fine."

"You're thinking about Tommy, aren't you?"

"What makes you say that?"

"Oh come on Jen, I see the way you two look at each other," Lucas said.

"I don't look at him _any_ kind of way. We work together, and I have a tremendous amount of respect for what he's done as a ranger in the past. That's all," she said.

"Just admit it Jen, you like the guy."

"I don't……. I couldn't…… I still love……"

"Wes? I know you do. We all know you'll always love Wes, but even he moved on with his life. If you have feelings for someone else, don't be afraid to……"

"Can we keep our mind on the mission? We have to close the rift and stop the entire universe from being destroyed, remember?" she reminded him.

"Yeah Jen, sure. But once this mission is over, you're going to have to ask yourself to tough questions," Lucas said, going back to his work.

She sighed.


	12. Chapter Twelve

Captain Logan stood in the doorway, simply watching as Jen and Lucas worked on the ion charges. They looked so determined, so focused. He couldn't help but admire that. Being as quiet as he could, he snuck past the door, making his way down the hall and into the elevator.

"Deck nine," he said.

The elevator headed upwards, eventually stopping at deck nine. As soon as he stepped off the elevator, he made his way to the communications room.

It took him a second to bi-pass the security lock out, but quickly stepped inside, closing the door behind him. He hurried over to the control panel and input a series of numbers. _'Code accepted,' _the computer announced.

The screen blinked on, and a mutant appeared. He wore a metal plate on the side of his face and had long, dark hair. There were spikes coming out his arms and shoulders, and his skin seemed to be deformed somehow.

"Master Ransorg," he said.

"What do you have for me Logan?" the mutant asked him.

"Our plan is going according to schedule. The rangers are planning to flood the reactor plant with ion radiation to close the rift," he said.

"And they have no idea that the ion charges will actually open the rift further?" he replied.

"No my Lord."

"Excellent work Logan. When victory is mine, there will be a place for you at my side," Ransorg told him.

"Thank you my Lord."

"Contact me again when phase three of the plan is complete. I will personally come to witness the destruction for myself," he ordered.

"As you wish sire," Captain Logan told him, and then turned off the screen.

Before he left, he input another set of codes into the control panel. _'Code accepted. Message logs deleted,'_ the computer announced.

With a sinister smile on his face, Captain Logan walked out the room.

(*)

It had taken them a while to even find the place, much less get inside. Considering that the Nexus had been sealed for one thousand years, it still seemed to be in good condition. Being trapped under layers of rock for centuries seemed to have preserved most of it, but there were still indications of a battle taking place.

There were stone statues up against the walls, but the majority of them had been destroyed a long time ago, no doubt during an avalanche of some sort.

"This place is disgusting," Trip chimed in, breaking the silence between the three of them.

"We're not here for decorating tips. We're here to find the staff," Ransik pointed out, then continued his search.

It didn't take long for Alex to notice something was wrong. "If this place has been sealed off for almost one thousand years, where are the cobwebs? Where's the dust? Why the place looked almost like……" he paused as he heard something in the distance. "You guys hear that?"

They nodded, remaining silent.

Just then, Ransik was attacked from behind. A wooden beam hit him across the back, just enough to knock him over.

"Who are you and what do you want?" they heard a voice say.

Trip and Alex helped Ransik up, and then turned to see their attacker. He looked to be a clown of some sort, with multicolored pants and a mask on.

"Who are you?"

"I'm asking the questions here green haired guy. Remember, you broke into _my_ place," he reminded them.

"You mean, you _live_ here?"

"I gave my interior decorator the day off. Now enough with the small talk, who are you are why are you here?" he inquired.

It was Ransik who took a step forward. "You're an org, aren't you?"

"Duke Org to be exact, the master of blades," he told him with a certain pride in his voice.

"Jindrax," he said.

"You know me?"

"I'm Ransik," he introduced.

"You don't smell human," he noticed.

"I use to be a mutant."

"That explains the bad hair style," Jindrax pointed out.

"We don't have time for this, we have to….." Alex was cut short as Ransik put his hand up, signaling him to be quite.

"How long have you been down here?"

"About four hundred years now. After Toxica died, I didn't have any place else to go. I came here because I knew I would be left in peace," he said.

"I'm sorry for your lose."

"Now explain to me why a _use to be _mutant, a human and a green haired guy broke into a place that's been sealed away for over one thousand years," Jindrax said.

"Do you remember the mutorgs?"

"Of course I do."

"In the year 2002, when the rangers defeat them, their mutant halves along with my own were sucked through a rift in the space/time continuum, where they combined to make the ultimate mutant, Ransorg. We're here to find Master Org's staff so that we can capture the spirits before they have a chance to make it through the rift," Trip explained.

Jindrax scratched his head. "Now where have I seen that thing? I swore I saw it when I was cleaning up a few hundred years ago," he mentioned.

"Jindrax, the fate of the entire universe depends on us finding that staff and trapping the spirits before it's too late," Alex said.

"Why should I care if the universe is destroyed? I live in a cave surrounded by org generals who were destroyed before they even had a chance to be reborn, my best friend is gone and I haven't had a decent meal in centuries. If the universe _is_ destroyed, it has to be better than this," he said.

"You can stay down here and feel sorry for yourself all you want, just stay out our way while we look for the staff," Ransik snapped as he pushed Jindrax aside, then continued his search.

Trip and Alex went off in a different direction, but wasn't having very much luck either. It was Jindrax who cleared his throat, getting their attention.

"It's in a chamber not far from here. Come on, I'll take you to it," he sighed.

"Why the change of heart?"

"It's what Toxica would have wanted," he told them.

(*)

"They should have been back by now," Jen pointed out as she paced back and forth in the briefing room.

Tommy, Katie and Lucas sat at the table itself, watching Jen as she paced nervously around the room.

"Everything is under control Jen; the ion charges are ready to go, the time ship is operating at 100% and our plan is carefully thought out. As soon as Ransik and the others get back, we'll be ready," Tommy pointed out, trying to comfort her.

"He's right. The Nexus isn't exactly near by, and they still have to actually find the staff they're looking for. Everything is going according to plan Jen, just relax," Katie added.

"I guess you're right, it's just that….." she paused, glancing around the room. "Where is Logan?" she inquired.

"He should be in his quarters."

"Computer, locate Logan," Jen called out.

_'Logan is deck 9, section 4,'_ the computer announced.

"The communications deck," Lucas mentioned.

"Who could he be trying to contact….." her sentence trailed off as all four of them realized it at once.

"Ransorg," Tommy sighed, speaking for the group.

Without another word, the four of them rushed out the room, down the hall and into the elevator. 

"Deck nine," Jen said.

The elevator headed upwards, but as soon as they got off the elevator, Captain Logan was standing there.

"Hi," he said cheerfully, stepping onto the elevator. "Where you guys headed?" he inquired, pushing the button on the control panel.

"What are you doing up here? This is a restricted area," Lucas said.

"I know, Lt. CaSteel pointed that out to me and told me I had to leave, so I did," he told them as the elevator headed down.

"What were you looking for?"

"Nothing. I got bored; I thought I would have a look around the place. It's just so much different here than it was in _my_ Time Force," he said. "So, did you guys finish the ion charge things?"

"Yeah, we did." Tommy said.

"Good, the sooner we can close the rift, the better," he sighed. Just then, the elevator stopped and the doors opened. "This is my stop, I'll see you guys later," he said, stepping off the elevator.

"He's up to something. Katie, go back to the communication's deck and see if he tried to contact anyone. Lucas, go through the computer systems and see what you can find about ion charges and cross reference it with rifts in the continuum," she instructed.

"What am I looking for?"

"I don't know. Something. Anything. There was something about the way he asked about the charges, like he was looking forward to it. If there's something going on, I want to know about it," she said.

"You got it," Lucas told her, stepping off the elevator.

(*)

"Here it is," Jindrax said, handing them the staff.

Ransik took a second to admire it. Something about the design intrigued him as he glanced over it with a smirk on his face. "This is it my friends," he told them.

"Good, now lets get back to Jen so we can stop Ransorg once and for all," Alex said.

"Not so fast hot shot, the staff comes with a price," the org mentioned.

"A price?"

"Yup. If you want that staff, you're going to have to take me with you," he said.

"What do you mean?"

"Anything has to be better than sitting around here for another thousand years. You want the staff, I get to come with you," Jindrax said.

Trip and Alex looked at one another, then at Ransik. "Fine with us. We can use all the help we can get," Trip said.

"Well what are we waiting for, let's go," he said as the four of them walked away.

**TBC………..**


	13. Chapter Thirteen

"Computer, give me a listing of all communications sent in the last 12 hours," Katie instructed as she sat down on front of the control panel in the communications room.

_'Accessing. One moment please,' _the computer announced.

Part of her thought that Jen was being paranoid. _'No way Logan was up here long enough to contact anyone, much less another dimension. Besides, he doesn't even have security access,'_ she thought to herself, but she also knew it couldn't hurt to look. The fate of not just their world, but of countless other worlds hung in the balance, so it made sense to be thorough. 

The computer didn't answer, but instead gave a read out of every communication made. Katie quickly skimmed through them.

"Computer, there's a gap between 1396 and 1398. Explain."

_'That communications file has been deleted,' _the computer answered.

"By whom?"  
  


_'Unknown,' _the computer said.

She paused. "Computer, is the deleted file still in the network?" she asked.

_'Checking,' _there was a pause. _'Affirmative. File still exists on network,'_ it said.

"Retrieve file 1397 and display,"

The screen blinked on, and Katie's jaw dropped at the sight of him. "Oh my God," she sighed with a look of panic on her face.

(*)

"Anything yet?" Jen inquired as she walked into the lab where Lucas was working. He didn't even bother to glance back as she put her hand on his shoulder.

"No yet. I swear you have to be a science geek to make sense of this stuff. Even if I _had_ found something, I wouldn't know," he admitted.

She paused. "I was thinking about what you said," she mentioned, changing the subject a little.

"About Tommy?"

She nodded. "I just don't know if pursuing a relationship with him is the best thing right now. He still needs time to adjust to his new surroundings, and I'm not completely over Wes yet. Maybe I should hold off on….."

"Jen, Tommy is a living legend, when word gets out that he's alive and well in the 31st century, there will be women lined up around the corner to meet him. Do you really want to hold off on telling him how you feel? If you do, it might be too late," Lucas told her.

She sighed. "You're right, it's just that……" she was cut short as Ransik, Trip, Tommy and Jindrax walked into the room.

"Hey guys," Tommy said, speaking for the group.

"You found the staff, good. All we have to do now is wait for Katie," she said.

"Where is Katie?"

"In the communications room checking something for me," she reached for her morpher. "Katie, this is Jen. Come in," she said.

There was no response.

"Katie, this is Jen. Do you read me?"

Still, no response.

"Katie, this is Lucas. Come in," he said, but still nothing.

"Computer, locate Katie," Jen said.

_'Katie is on deck 9, section 4,' _it announced.

"That's communications, but why isn't she answering?" Trip wondered.

Just then, Captain Logan rushed into the room, hitting Ransik over the head with a metal pole. As he fell to the ground, Logan grabbed the staff, aiming a disrupter to it. "Another move and I destroy the staff," he warned.

"Who is this clown?" Jindrax asked.

"You're a fine one to talk, aren't you? It won't matter, none of it matters. In a few minutes, my master will merge the realities and mutants will rule not only this world, but all worlds," he told them.

"We're not going to let you get away with this Logan. There's no way you can make it to the launch bay without one of us catching you," Tommy mentioned.

"I thought of that, that's why I brought along some help. Isn't that right Trip?" he asked.

The others turned to Trip, who had a disrupter aimed at Jen's head. "Get to the shuttle bay, I'll hold them here," Trip said.

Logan let out a sinister laugh, and then hurried away.

"Why Trip?" Jen asked.

"Hell, why not? The Trip you knew was erased from existence with the time line shifted, but you would have known that if you took the time to review the personnel logs yourself. Master Ransorg sent Logan and I here to ensure that the mutants would inherit the world, and now that we have the only thing that can stop us in our possession, it's only a matter of time," he explained.

"It all makes sense now. When we came back from our first mission, Logan told us that the time line had been repaired and Trip was back, but we never stopped to check," Lucas said.

"And he's been helping us the entire time, but secretly undermining everything we've tried to do," she added.

"Which means the ion charges won't work," Ransik pointed out.

"Oh they work all right. They'll open the rift even further, allowing the barriers between worlds to be destroyed. The world will belong to……" he was cut short as something hit him from behind. 

It was enough to let Jen connect with an elbow to the stomach, then a kick, knocking Trip off his feet. Before he could regroup, she grabbed the disrupter, pointing it at him. 

"Why do the bad guys always talk so much?" they heard a voice ask.

They all glanced up and saw _him._

"Trip?" Jen inquired.

"The one and only," he glanced down at his other self. "Well, not really, but you get the idea," he said.

"I don't understand, you were erased from the time line," she said.

"If anyone had stopped to check, you'd see that whatever you did to repair the time line restored history. I've been here the whole time, but thought I'd see how all this played out. Good thing too, looks the like the bad guys were about to win," he mentioned.

"What do you know about ion charges?" she asked.

"Only that if you plan to flood that reactor with ion radiation, the rift will open one hundred times faster, and there's no telling what might come through the rift," he said.

"So what do we do?"

"Reverse the charges polarity, that should close the rift," he said.

"None of it matters now you fools, Logan is gone and he took the staff and the time ship with him. Even if you're right, there's nothing you….." he was cut short as Trip leaned down, hitting his other self, knocking him out.

"I think this belongs to me," he said, taking his morpher and putting it on. "Am I really as annoying as this guy?"

"Not at all Trip."

"It's a shame, he really is a handsome guy," he pointed out.

"Um, in case you haven't noticed, the entire universe is doomed and there's nothing we can do about it. I should have stayed in the Nexus," Jindrax said.

"Ransik, go check on Katie and meet us in hanger 6," Jen said.

"Hanger 6, that's where……"

She nodded. "Where the megazord is," she sighed.


	14. Chapter Fourteen

"Well, how do I look?" Trip asked as he walked into the room.

Katie, who had an ice pack on the back of her head, smiled warmly. "If I didn't know any better, I'd swear you were evil," she told him.

He had on an all black Time Force uniform, complimented by the deeply tinted sunglasses. "Hey, I've got a devilish streak, really," he insisted, taking off the glasses and tucking them into the collar of his uniform.

"Oh yeah, you're a bad boy," she said, playing along.

"Have you finished with the charges?"

"Yeah, I reconfigured them to emit an inverse ion charge just like you said. Ransorg and Logan won't know what hit them," she told him.

"Good. Get the charges loaded into the Megazord, I'll meet you in hanger six," he said.

She stood up, stuffing the charges into a bag. "Wait, where are you going?" she inquired.

"Tying up a loose end," he said, walking out the room.

(*)

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Alex asked him as they walked into hanger six.

Tommy couldn't help but glance upward, admiring the Time Shadow Megazord. "Nice, but it isn't the White Tiger," he mentioned.

"Big talk for someone who talked to a sword," he said.

"Oh yeah, your zord doesn't even have hands,"

It was Jen who walked up behind them. "Break it up you two, we have a job to do. Does everyone remember the plan?" she asked them.

Alex nodded. "Ransik and I will take the Time Shadow back to the 21st century and meet you there. Where is Katie and Trip?" he asked.

"I'm here, Trip said he had some loose ends to tie up. He'll meet us here," Katie said as she walked into the room with a bag over her shoulder.

"Good luck you guys," Alex said as he headed for the zord.

(*)

"Looks like we're ready to go," Lucas said as he sat in front of the controls in the Time Force Megazord. 

Across from him was Jindrax, who simply glanced around in amazement. "I can't tell you how many times I've wondered what the inside of one of these things looked like. All those times I got my ass kicked by that damn Predazord or that damn Wild Force Conga Zord, I'm tellin' ya, I'm impressed," he said.

"I'm glad,"

"How about on the way back you let me drive?"

"No," Lucas told him.

Jen and the others walked into the cockpit, taking their positions. Although it was too minor to mention anything, it felt odd to her to see Tommy standing where Wes use to stand. _'It's not like you're trying to replace Wes, but we have a job to do,'_ she had to remind herself.

"Jen, you okay?" she heard a voice say, breaking her train of thought.

"Huh?" she glanced up. "Yeah, I'm fine. Everyone ready?"

"If we say no do we get to go home?" Jindrax asked.

"No."

"Oh, never mind then,"

"I've set the phasers to discharge a modified polaron burst. That should reopen the time hole and let us get to the 21st century," Trip informed them.

"Good, looks like we're ready," she said.

"Discharging polaron burst," Katie said, going over the readings.

"Confirmed. Polaron burst steady at 200 parts per million," he said.

"The time hole is opening," Tommy mentioned, looking at the view screen.

"Setting a course,"

(*)

Turtle Cove, California        2002

"It's the natural order of things Logan: mankind was destined to destroy themselves. Just look at them," he motioned downwards towards the reactor plant. "Plants like this one pollute the air, destroying the O-Zone layer, they create nuclear weapons to battle one another, they use guns and other weapons to kill themselves, it was only a matter of time before they eliminated themselves. Not mutants though, we take care of one another, we work towards a future where all mutants can live in peace. Under my leadership, the entire universe will be at peace," Ransorg told him as they watched the battle from the distance.

There was part of him that remembered it all. After all, he was there when it happened. When the explosion went off, separating all the mutant halves, there was a brief moment of consciousness as the halves combined with Ransik's half, creating him. To see the battle take place from a different perspective was somewhat nostalgic for him.

"Peace? Is that what you call it? A world where you are the sole ruler? Where humans are forced to work like animals?" Logan mentioned.

"That's what they are, all of them. Animals. I've offered you a place at my side in the new order Logan; you'll never have to go back to the mines to work. Your place in the new world is secure, only those who oppose me will be destroyed," he told him.

"Yes my lord,"

"Where is Trip?" he asked.

"He held the others at bay while I escaped in the time ship to come here. He's arranged to use the meagzord to come to the 21st century with the charges. Soon, the rift will be open, and the new era for mutants will begin," Logan assured him.

"Excellent," Ransorg said with a devious smile.

(*)

"Are you sure we should just leave the zord here?" Tommy inquired as they headed towards the power plant.

"Assuming that our mission is a success, the time line will change and none of this will have happened," Jen said.

"Of course, if we fail, the world will be controlled by mutants and no one will even care if we parked a megazord behind a mountain," Jindrax brought up.

"We won't fail,"

"I know, I'm just saying……"

"Trip, get to the plant and find Logan, but try not to be seen by the other rangers. The last thing we need is to create a paradox and destroy the universe ourselves," she said.

"I'm on it," he said as he put the bag over his shoulder and hurried away.

"By now, the battle with the mutorgs should be just about over and all the rangers should be on their way to the Animarium to celebrate. That should give us the time we need to stop Logan and Ransorg," she said.

"Let's do it," Lucas said.

(*)

"My lord," Trip said as he arrived at the plant, bowing in front of Ransorg.

"Do you have the charges?" he asked.

"Yes my lord. According to my calculations, the rift is already open, but these charges should open the rift so wide that our realities will merge, creating a new world for you to rule," Trip told him.

"Excellent. Logan, set the charges," he said.

"As you wish sire," Logan said, taking the charges from Trip and heading over to the reactor.

"Logan's loyalty is beginning to sway. He believes that our quest isn't just, that the humans should be given a chance. After the worlds have merged, it will be your job to kill him. Then you may take his spot at my side in the new world," Ransorg ordered.

"It will be my pleasure sire," Trip said.

"That's far enough Ransorg," they heard a voice say.

Ransorg and Trip turned glanced down only to see Jen and the others standing behind them. "As yes, the Time Force rangers. I knew you'd show up sooner or later, but no matter. Soon, all worlds will be mine," he said.

"Not if we can help it. Ready guys?" she asked.

"Ready," Lucas said, speaking for the group.

_"TIME FOR, TIME FORCE," _they all called out in unison, replacing their clothes with their ranger uniforms.

"Impressive, but it's not enough," he told them, jumping over the railing, falling almost twenty feet down and landing only a few feet away from the reactor.

"We'll see," the pink ranger said, calling for her sword as she rushed towards him. She swung her sword, but he blocked with the metal shield on his arms, then kicked her, knocking her through the wall and out the plant.

Next was the red and yellow ranger who charged in together. Katie hit a sabat kick just as Tommy hit a leg sweep, knocking Ransorg off his feet. As he fell to the ground, Katie called for her sword and tried to stab Ransorg in the chest, but he put his hand up to block it. The sword went through his hand, and he swatted her away, knocking her into a stack of metal barrels across the room. Next, he pulled the sword out his hand, using it to block Tommy's sword, then kick him in the chest, knocking him over. 

The blue ranger made his stand, rushing towards Ransorg with his sword, but Ransorg snapped the sword in half, then grabbed Lucas by the throat and began to choke him. Just then, Katie picked up a metal barrel and threw it at Ransorg, hitting him in the back of the head. It was just enough to force him to let Lucas go as he stumbled forward, and Katie jumped on his back.

Ransorg fell to his knees, flipping Katie over and knocking her up against the reactor itself, forcing her to power down. Lucas rushed over to her, checking on her, but Ransorg kicked him in the face, knocking him up against the reactor as well. As Lucas powered down, Ransorg stood over him with his sword.

"I wanted you to live long enough to see the worlds merge, but it is of no consequence," he said as he cocked back, stabbing Lucas through the heart.

"Lucas, no!" Tommy yelled as he got back to his feet, attacking Ransorg with a series of kicks and punches, but none of them seemed to have an effect on him. Finally, Ransorg gave him a backhanded slap, sending Tommy crashing into a metal beam. He powered down as Jen hurried over to him to check.

"Ransorg," a voice called out.

Ransorg glanced over his shoulder where Ransik was standing there with a determined look on his face. He reached over, pulling the sword out Lucas' chest, making his stand.

"I was hoping it would come down to the two of us," he said.

Without another word, Ransik swung the sword, but Ransorg blocked the metal plate on his arm. Before he could react, Ransik kicked him in the chest, knocking him up against the reactor, then swung the sword again. This time, Ransorg ducked it, then punched Ransik in the stomach, sending him across the room and crashing into a metal beam.

Jen checked on him, and once she realized Ransik was unconscious, she turned to Ransorg with hatred in her eyes.

 "That's it Ransorg, your times up!" she told him.

"Famous last words pink ranger!" he warned.

"The charges are set my lord. Ready when you are," Logan said, rushing over to him and handing him a detonator.

Jen tried to hit a kick to the jaw, but Ransorg grabbed her by the throat, pulling her close. "I want you to witness the end of the world as you know it, and the beginning of the new order," he told her. He turned her attention to the reactor, where what appeared to be clouds of smoke seemed to be floating over the reactor itself. "You see that? It's the mutant halves on their way into the rift of the space/time continuum. It's _your_ fault I came to be, and it is because of you that the known universe is coming to an end," Ransorg said, letting out a sinister laugh.

"That's what you think," they heard a voice say.

Ransorg turned around only to see Trip standing behind him with the staff in hand. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Putting an end to this once and for all," he said as the staff began to glow.

Ransorg noticed that the mutant halves began to float away from the reactor and towards the staff as it lit up. "You see that Ransorg? It's over for you. If those halves don't make it through the rift, you'll never exist," Jen mumbled as he continued to squeeze.

"That's what you think," he said, shooting an energy bolt from his hand, shattering the sphere on top of the staff, stopping the glow altogether. Seconds later, the clouds began to float towards the reactor again. "You see rangers, I'm one step ahead of you," he told them.

"That's what you think," Tommy said as he hit Ransorg in the face with a wooden board, breaking it in half and forcing him to let go of Jen.

Jen fell to the ground, holding her throat as she attempted to catch her breath.

"Welcome to your future's end," Ransorg said, pushing the detonator and setting off the charges. 

The charges began to glow as some kind of smoke filled the room, making the rift in the continuum visible. Ransorg watched in amazement as the rift seemed to get smaller.

"What have you done?"

"It's over for you Ransorg, your time's up!" Alex said as he rushed into the plant, throwing a containment unit to Jen.

She quickly caught it and opened it, trapping the mutants' halves inside. Ransorg picked up a sword and swung at Jen, but as soon as the blade got inches away from her, Ransorg disappeared.

"That's it. It's finally over," Katie sighed as she made it to her feet, holding her ribs in pain.

"Is the fight over? What did I miss? I'm ready for action guys," Jindrax said as he rushed into the plant, only to see that the smoke was clearing and realize the battle was over. "Oh, I missed it. Well, it's a good thing for that Ransorg guy that I wasn't here. If I was, I would have taught him a lesson," he insisted.

"Come on guys, lets go home," Jen said.


	15. Conclusion

Jen opened her eyes slowly only to find herself in the medical bay at Time Force headquarters. She tried to sit up, but an overwhelming rush of pair swept through her body, forcing her to lay back down.

"Just relax, you've got a serious concussion," a voice said.

She glanced over as Captain Logan walked over to her, looking down at a clipboard in his hand. Although his vision was a little blurred, she could tell there was something different about him. His hair wasn't slicked back like it had been the last few days, and he had a calm, collective demeanor.

"Captain?"

"Yes Jen, it's me. The _real_ me," he assured her.

"Lucas? Where is he?" she inquired, remembering that Ransorg stabbed him in the chest.

"Relax Jen, Lucas will be okay. If the blade had been a few inches to the right, there would have been nothing we could do for him. Good thing for us that Ransorg had bad aim," he joked.

"What about the others? Katie? Trip? Tommy?"

"With the exception of some minor cuts and bruises, everyone is just fine. Katie was released earlier today and is expected to make a full recovery," he said.

"And the time line?"

"Everything is as it should be, thanks to you. The world owes you a debt Lt. Scott," Captain Logan told her.

"Thank you sir,"

It was at that moment that Tommy walked into the medical bay with a single white rose in his hand. Captain Logan noticed him, and silently walked away so the two of them could be alone.

"You had us worried there for a sec," he said.

"Naw, I'll be out of here in no time," she paused. "Is that for me?"

"Oh, yeah." He handed it to her. "I wanted to get you a little something," he said.

"Thank you,"

"Captain Logan explained to me in the mission debriefing that although my condition has been treated and that I'll be fine, they're not going to send me back to my own time. Looks like I'm stuck here with you," he said, reaching out slowly and grabbing her hand.

"I can think of worse places for you to be," she smiled.

"Same here,"

He leaned down slowly, kissing her gently on the forehead. "The future is going to take some getting use to. I'm going to need some time to adjust to things," he mentioned.

"Yeah, time would do us both some good," she agreed.

"Well, I'll let you get some rest, but once you get out of here you're going to have to come over to my place and show me how the lights work again," Tommy said.

"It's a date," Jen told him.

(*)

"Computer. Recognize Trip, authorization G6 Omega 1," he said, putting his hand on the plate in front of the door.

_'Identity confirmed. Welcome back Trip,' _the computer announced as the door opened, allowing the two of them inside.

He headed over to the containment area, quickly glancing over the files until he found an empty containment locker. Next, he pulled a containment unit out his bag, inserting it into the empty locker and sealed it shut.

"That's it for Ransorg," Trip said.

"Are you sure it's over?"

"Yeah. The future has been restored, the rift in the continuum has been repaired and Ransorg is in containment now. What else could there be?"

"What about me?"

"I told you, the counsel dropped all charges against you. You're free to do whatever you want with your life,"

"I can't believe you stuck your neck out there for me like that, especially after all the damage I did," he mentioned.

"What are friends for?" Trip asked.

He chuckled. "Friends? We're practically family," he said as the two of them shook hands.

"I don't know if Time Force is ready for _two_ of us,"

"Actually, I was thinking of going back to Xybria for a while. Maybe in a few months I'll come back and I'll join the academy,"

"That would be interesting,"

"Well," he paused. "Until next time," Trip said.

"Yeah, next time," he said as he watched the green haired Xybrian walk away.

(*)

"Well, I guess the secret is out now," Ransik said as he sat down across from Katie on the couch, handing her a glass of juice.

"I guess so. People didn't take it as badly as we thought," she said.

"With the exception of that whole _'framed for murder' _thing, I think it worked out well," he said with a smile.

"Me too."

"With this mission behind us, we have our future to look forward to," he said.

Katie raised her glass. "To the future," she toasted.

Ransik obliged her. "May it be full of surprises,"


End file.
